Ravenna

Timeline

1. c. 1–402Ravenna · ItalyRavenna lies in the Po Delta; from the Augustan age it served as the base of the Roman Adriatic fleet (classis Ravennas), linking the Italian peninsula with eastern trade, and gradually developed into a regional administrative center under the Principate.
2. 402–476Ravenna palace district · ItalyEmperor Honorius moved the court to Ravenna in 402 to escape the barbarian threat; from then until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 Ravenna was the de facto capital, and early Christian buildings such as the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista were constructed.
3. 476–500Basilica of San Vitale — Mausoleum of Galla Placidia · RavennaUnder Odoacer and Theodoric Ravenna was capital of the Gothic Kingdom, with the construction of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia; before Justinian's reconquest, the city's mosaic art had already reached a Byzantine pinnacle.