Ravenna Geography

Ravenna sits on the flat alluvial plain where the Po delta meets the Adriatic, barely above sea level. What matters is that this ground is young: in late antiquity the city stood among lagoons and marshes, protected by water on almost every side, which is precisely why emperors moved here when Milan became indefensible.

Sediment carried down by the Po and the Apennine rivers has filled that lagoon in. Classe, Ravenna’s great imperial harbour, was a working naval port for a fleet of hundreds; it is now eight kilometres inland and under farmland, with its basilica standing in open fields.

Between the city and the modern coast lie the remnants of the historic pine forests — the pinete, planted and managed since Roman times, ridden through by Dante and later by Byron.

North and south the Po delta wetlands begin: brackish lagoons, salt pans and one of the most important bird habitats in the Mediterranean, with flamingos now resident.