Ravenna

Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Ravenna adjoins in the South with the provinces of Forlì and Cesena and in the north with Bologna and Ferrara. The winding streets reveal the past of a city built on a lagoon, the presence of water in the canals that cross it, closed during the period of Venetian rule. The port of Ravenna is the main port of Emilia-Romagna.

Ravenna is a city with ancient origins and a glorious past . It was indeed capital three times, first of the Western Roman Empire, then of King Theodoric of the Goths and of lastly the Byzantine Empire in Europe. The basilicas and baptisteries of the city 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 guards the remains of Dante and keeps alive the memory of the great poet. In the 17th century the city centre was connected to the sea (12 km away) by a canal.

Ravenna’s economy is multisectoral, largely characterized by a network of small and micro enterprises as well as companies operating in chemistry. Since the 2000s Ravenna has seen a strong shift towards the service economy which has yield the development of transport and logistics services of the seaport as well as the development of tourism and cultural activities.

Ravenna is part of the implementation network CREATIVE SPIRITS which has aims at boosting creative entrepreneurship through urban strategies. The challenge for Ravenna is to transform a former habrour and industrial area into a homogeneous and compact urban district that should become a culturally vibrant knowledge centre, an engine for the new future economy and the green and smart soul of the next urban texture.