The tour begins at the UNESCO-listed complex where the Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia stand side by side. Your guide introduces the political and religious context behind these monuments built under the rule of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.

Walking into the old town, you reach the Battistero Neoniano, one of the oldest surviving buildings in Ravenna. The octagonal baptistery houses a remarkable mosaic cupola that has endured for over fifteen centuries.

A short walk leads to the Arcivescovile Museum, located within the Archbishop's Palace. Here your guide highlights the Throne of Maximian, an intricately carved ivory throne dating from the 6th century, and the intimate mosaic-decorated Chapel of Sant'Andrea.

The tour continues into Piazza del Popolo, Ravenna's main square, where Venetian columns topped with bronze statues frame the space. Your guide shares the history of the square and the urban development of the medieval city around it.

Nearby, the Area of Silence marks the site associated with Dante Alighieri, who completed the Divine Comedy here before his death in 1321. Your guide explains the poet's years of exile and the enduring relationship between Ravenna and his legacy.

The walk concludes at the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, originally built by Theodoric the Great in the early 6th century. The long nave walls are lined with mosaic processions of virgins and martyrs that remain among the finest examples of their kind.