Spend a great day out on the tiles

The city of Ravenna was the focus of huge artistic creativity as the Roman Empire reached its finale. Nick Trend is dazzled

It’s a rare thing – as a tourist ticking off the sights – to be caught off guard by a surge of emotion. But as I walked into the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna I had to put out my hand to steady myself. I found a chair and sat down to try to process what I was seeing.

The dome and vaults of this small, cruciform building are entirely covered in brilliantly coloured mosaics. Hundreds

of gold stars shimmer against a background of the richest, deepest ultramarine.

Grape vines and pomegranates and complex abstract patterns picked out in red, green and turquoise line the arches between the vaults. On the walls below, two stags, entwined with foliage drink at a waterhole, while below the dome, toga-clad figures float among the glittering tesserae. And, presiding over all above the entrance door, the good shepherd sits on a throne of rocks among his sheep.

The dazzling colours, the bewildering complexity of the decoration, the simple serenity of the figures – all would be enough to quicken your breath. But I think what had intensified the moment for me, what brought on that overwhelming rush of emotion, was that knowledge that these mosaics and the space they bejewel are nearly 1,600 years old.

We are used to the relics and ruins of ancient times. Stonehenge is much, much older. The Pyramids and the Parthenon, too. But what I had never experienced with anything like the same force was the sense of being inside an interior, intact, profoundly ancient, and of such extraordinary splendour.

True – a few frescoed rooms survive distraction of tour groups and the chatter of their guides.

The history, the doctrines, the iconographies are extraordinarily complex. Walking around Ravenna, it can be hard to get your head around the connections between these wonderful buildings. It doesn’t matter, you can tuck into the visual feast and not worry about it. But I’ve pulled out the highlights in date order

The closest airports to Ravenna are Bologna and Rimini – find flights on skyscanner.net. For reviews of hotels, see telegraph.co.uk/tt-ravenna-hotels. For more information, visit turismo.ra. it/eng.

Overseas holidays are currently subject to restrictions. See Page 3.