Basilica di San Francesco

The three-aisled columned basilica of San Francesco stands on the piazza of the same name in central Ravenna and is designated an Italian national monument. Its foundations date to the 10th century, built over an earlier late-antique structure associated with the era of Empress Galla Placidia. The church holds a notable place in literary history: Dante Alighieri's funeral rites were held here in 1321 before his remains found their permanent resting place nearby. The basilica continues to be administered by the Friars Minor, a branch of the Franciscan order, maintaining an unbroken monastic presence. Its most arresting feature is the permanently flooded crypt below floor level — groundwater fills the chamber so that 4th- and 5th-century mosaic floors shimmer beneath the water's surface, an uncanny and quietly memorable sight.