Identity: ten territorial areas, Byzantium and Dante

Administrative structure

Ravenna's circoscrizioni (district councils) ceased to operate on 24 May 2011; the Comune amended its Statute to keep dividing the territory into ten zones, and in 2013 set up the ten Territorial Councils, last elected on 3 April 2022. The areas are: Centro Urbano, Darsena, Ravenna Sud, del Mare, Castiglione, Mezzano, Piangipane, Roncalceci, San Pietro in Vincoli and Sant'Alberto.

Byzantium and Dante

Ravenna was the seat of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century and the centre of Byzantine Italy until the 8th. The eight monuments inscribed by UNESCO in 1996 (Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Neonian Baptistery, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Arian Baptistery, Archiepiscopal Chapel, Mausoleum of Theodoric, San Vitale and Sant'Apollinare in Classe) combine Greco-Roman tradition, Christian iconography and Eastern and Western styles.

Dante Alighieri chose Ravenna after 1318, at the invitation of Guido da Polenta, and wrote part of the Commedia here. His tomb is on via Dante Alighieri, the heart of the so-called Zona del Silenzio, where a canto of the Commedia is read aloud every day.

The port

The port extends along the Candiano canal, where the Port System Authority of the Central-Northern Adriatic Sea has its seat. For 2026 Ravenna is Italian Capital of the Sea.