Tempio at Rimini, Mosaics at Ravenna

When we arrived in Rimini, we found parking easily, and headed down the street to where the Tempio Malatestiano was to be located. Our directions where somewhat unclear, and we were unaware at the time that the actual name of the church is St. Francis. when Faced with an austere white marble church, we were uncertain. Was this the church that so offended the Pope at the time of its construction? We were prepared for something darker. But the church can be easily identified by the intertwined I and S, for Sigismono Malatesta and his mistress Isotta. The characters together resemble a dollar sign, and it is perhaps these marks, as well as the unusual carved details of elephants, part of Malatesta's coat of arms, which so offended the religious order. Not so much a church, as a shrine to his dead mistress, the Tempio was never fully completed as intended. It is in itself not a particularly important attraction, but is and interesting stopover.

Roughly an hour north of Rimini lies the town of Ravenna. Ravenna is considered a UNESCO World Heritage site due to it's fabulous mosaics located in several buildings throughout the town. A ticket can be purchased the provides admittance to several of these buildings, and they can be visited easily by foot in the main part of town. Also in the area is the final resting place of Dante. Though Florence was long his home, He died and was buried in Ravenna, a political exile. Florence has since tried to recover his remains, but Ravenna has refused, and in the early 1800's, 500 years after his death, they constructed a tomb for him among other famous Italians, but which still lies empty today.

Inside and Outside: Tomba Di Dante.

From the Tempio Malatestiano

Various Mosaics from Ravenna