Dante lived (and died) in Ravenna after his exile ... Next door, the "soaring" Basilica di San Vitale has "shimmering" mosaics of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora in "lush greens, brilliant ...

While impressive on the outside, the real glories of San Vitale, one of the earliest Christian churches, are in the mosaics on ... belly-dancer-turned-empress wife, Theodora.

Ravenna is on Italy’s tourist map for one reason: its 1,500-year-old churches decorated with best-in-the-West Byzantine mosaics. While locals go about their business, busloads of tourists slip ...