Ravenna

This article is about Ravenna in Italy. For other uses of the name, see Ravenna (disambiguation).

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Ravenna, a city in Emilia-Romagna region, Italy, was an important port and administrative center in the late Roman empire and the early Middle Ages.

After 493, Ravenna was the capital of the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy.

Following the conquests of the Emperor Justinian I in the sixth century, Ravenna was the seat of the Byzantine governor of Italy, the Exarch. Numerous beautiful Byzantine mosaics remain to this day. At that time the city was on the Adriatic Sea. Nowadays the city is land-locked.

After the Byzantine withdrawal Ravenna was ruled by legates of the Pope as one of the Papal States. It became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.