The Municipality of Cervia is located in Emilia Romagna, on a wonderful part of the Adriatic coast, 20km south of Ravenna.  Its 10km shore characterised by fine sandy beaches and shallow water provides the setting for the resorts of Cervia, Milano Marittima, Pinarella and Tagliata. This area will welcome you with its natural beauty, traditions, culture, history and hospitable places offering numerous facilities for a holiday characterised by wellness, fun and relaxation.

Cervia Milano Marittima can boast an exceptional heritage of parkland. Cervia's centuries old pinewood, the southern part of the "dense and living woodland" sung of by Dante and Byron, stretches out over roughly 210 hectares. A 27 hectare natural park was set up in the pinewood in 1963. Another more recently planted pinewood of 24 hectares supplies a precious green lung between the beach and the resorts of Pinarella and Tagliata.

There are many public parks with facilities. Since 1968, respecting the "ecological" spirit that animates the town, Cervia Milano Marittima has possessed an efficient water purification plant. The 827-hectare saltpans of Cervia, still an important producer of salt, are also a natural reserve where avocets, blackwinged stilts, seagulls, mallards and many other species make their nests. Since 1972 the international event "Cervia Città Giardino" (Cervia Garden City) is organized, a permanent exhibition of flowers with the presence of several Italian and foreign cities.

THE VILLAGES OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CERVIA

Seaside resorts

Cervia , the antique city of salt, is not just a seaside resort, but also a town steeped in culture and history. By strolling around the centre you will discover the charm of a city which was completely reconstructed brick by brick at the end of the XVII century.

• Milano Marittima Milano Marittima is an exclusive and renowned resort on the Adriatic Riviera. In recent years it has become 'the place to be' for even the most demanding tourists.
• Pinarella originated as a natural continuity to Cervia but it has been able to develop its own special autonomy and to have more and more tourists returning year after year to this comfortable place.
• Tagliata In the latest years Tagliata managed to turn into a modern and friendly tourist resort offering many facilities.

 
 
Hinterland villages

• Cannuzzo It is a small, agricultural village in the municipality of Cervia.
• Castiglione This village is an agricultural centre. Montaletto This village in the municipality of Cervia stands south of the Forlì Cesena province.
• Pisignano This small village in the municipality of Cervia is an agricultural centre.
• Savio It is an agricultural centre along the state highway Strada Statale 16 Adriatica.
• Villa Inferno It is an agricultural, handicraft centre.

Ravenna is a city with ancient origins and a glorious past and has been capital three times, of the Western Roman Empire, of King Theodoric of the Goths and of the Byzantine Empire in Europe.
Ravenna has always been a tourist destination of culture; the last home of Dante Alighieri, visited by Leopardi, Boccaccio, Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, Jung and Klimt.

The basilicas and baptisteries of Ravenna contain the richest heritage of mosaics dating from the 5th and 6th centuries and eight historic buildings included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO. RAvenna was important in later ages as you can see in the archaeology of the Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra or in the vast Roman port of Classe. In the seventeen hundreds the city was connected to the sea by a navigable canal, the current port.

The cultural offer of Ravenna is abundant and varied: the MAR, City Art Museum of Ravenna, programmes regular exhibitions and is home to a number of permanent collections; the National Museum exhibits a variety of collections of Roman and Byzantine remains; the Archiepiscopal Museum includes the Chapel of Saint Andrew (Unesco); there are also the Dantean Museum and the Museum of the Risorgimento.

There are many cycle tracks along which it is possible to go to any part of the city, Theodoric's park, the Planetarium, The Garden of Forgotten Herbs or the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe.
The historic pinewoods of San Vitale and Classe have been included in the protected areas of the Po Delta Park. In recent decades Ravenna has also become a prominent resort in one of the greatest international tourist areas, the coast of Romagna with long beaches, boutiques, discos and night clubs, markets, sport facilities and amusements parks as Mirabilandia.

ALL THE CURCHES OF RAVENNA

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia UNESCO Monuments

Neonian Baptistry UNESCO Monuments

Arian Baptistery UNESCO Monuments

Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo UNESCO Monuments

Basilica of San Vitale UNESCO Monuments

Basilica of S. Agata Maggiore

Basilica of S. Francesco

Basilica of S. Giovanni Battista

Basilica of S. Giovanni Evangelista

Basilica of Santa Maria in Porto

Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

Basilica of the Holy Spirit

Duomo or Basilica Ursiana -The Cathedral

Church of S.Croce

Church of S. Maria del Suffragio

Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe UNESCO Monuments

Ufficio Turismo del Comune di Ravenna - via Salara 8 (Ra) - Tel +39 0544 35755 - 35404 - Fax +39 0544 35094 - email: turismo@comune.ravenna.it

The Basilica of S. Vitale has a central octagonal plan, surmounted by a cupola and the whole supported on 8 pilasters and arches Founded by Giulianus Argentarius, commissioned by Bishop Ecclesius and consacrated in 548. The Basilica of San Vitale is among the most important monuments of early Christian art in Italy, above all for the splendour of its mosaics. The floor is kept dry by pumps since it is below the level of the water table.

Empress Teodora: The labyrinth of the soul

In the floor of the presbytery there is a labyrinth represented on one side of the octagonal floor. Small arrows start at the centre of the maze and lead towards the centre of the basilica. In the early years of Christianity the maze was often a symbol of sin and the way to purification. Finding the way out of the maze was the act of rebirth. Once the route through the maze in the floor of San Vitale has been followed, the eyes may be lifted towards the altar where the beautiful mosaics can be contemplated.

The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo was built in the 6th century originally as Theodoric's palatinate church. The façade now is preceded by a simple 16th century marble portico. On the right side there is a cylindrical bell-tower of the 9th or 10th century, characteristic of the buildings of Ravenna. From the ancient building we have the magnificent mosaics with the largest surface area which has come down to us from antiquity.

Starry sky Galla Placidia (386-452), the sister of Honorius, the Roman Emperor who moved the Capital of the western empire from Milan to Ravenna, built this little Latin cross plan Mausoleum around 425-450. It is famous today for the splendour of its mosaics the most ancient in Ravenna. The iconographic themes developed in the decorations represent the victory of eternal life over death.

 
 
Contacts
Address: Via Fiandrini Benedetto - RA - Locality Ravenna

Phone number: per prenotazioni / booking 0544 541688

Fax number: 0544 541688 Free phone N°: 800303999

Times
Week-day timetable:
9.30 - 17 ticket office closes at 16.45

Weekend timetable:
9.30 - 17 ticket office closes at 16.45


How to get there
Pedestrian area, central zone, bus stop at 200 mt (Piazza Baracca), line 1, car park, accessible to disabled people.
Close to Basilica of S. Vitale and National Museum of Ravenna.
The ticket office is set on the main entrance of Basilica of San Vitale

Ufficio Turismo del Comune di Ravenna - via Salara 8 (Ra) - Tel +39 0544 35755 - 35404 - Fax +39 0544 35094 - email: turismo@comune.ravenna.it