Archiepiscopal Museum of Ravenna, Archaeological and religious museum in Ravenna, Italy.
The Archiepiscopal Museum of Ravenna is a religious and art museum housed inside the Archbishop's Palace in the center of Ravenna, holding early Christian and Byzantine works ranging from the 5th to the 14th century. The collection includes mosaics, ivory carvings, paintings, and liturgical objects arranged across several rooms of the palace, including the chapel of Sant'Andrea.
The Archbishop's Palace was built in the 5th century, and the chapel of Sant'Andrea was added in the early part of that same century under Archbishop Peter II. The museum itself was founded in 1734 to bring together and organize the religious objects that had accumulated in the palace over the centuries.
The museum sits inside the Archbishop's Palace, a building that is still the seat of the archdiocese today. Walking through it feels less like visiting an exhibition and more like stepping into a place that has never stopped being in use.
The museum is in the center of Ravenna, within walking distance of several other early Christian sites in the city. A combined ticket covering multiple monuments in Ravenna is available, which makes it easy to visit several places in the same day.
Among the objects on display is a 6th-century ivory chair known as the Throne of Archbishop Maximian, considered the only fully preserved throne of its kind from late antiquity. Its carved panels show scenes from the life of Joseph and of Saint John the Baptist.
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