Basilica of San Francesco, Ravenna

Basilica of San Francesco, Ravenna tickets: which one to buy

Entry is free and the church is not part of the Ravenna combined monument ticket, which catches out visitors working through the mosaic sites. The one thing that costs money is a coin in the box beside the crypt, which switches on the light over the flooded floor; it is the best euro spent in the city. Guided tours of Dante's Ravenna include the basilica and the tomb beside it and cost a moderate amount.

The church stands on its own square five minutes from the centre, next to the Tomb of Dante, which is free and open daily. Nothing needs booking. The Dante museum in the adjoining cloisters charges its own modest ticket. The Dante museum next door covers the poet's exile and death and is included in some city cards. Ravenna's tourist office on Piazza San Francesco sells the monument cards and hands out a free map of the Dante trail, which starts at this square.

Visiting Basilica of San Francesco, Ravenna: what to see

Bishop Neo built the first church here in 450 and dedicated it to Peter and Paul; it was rebuilt in the tenth century with the campanile that still stands, and given to the Franciscans in 1261. Dante died in Ravenna in 1321 and his funeral was held in this church; his tomb stands immediately outside, and the Florentines have been asking for the bones back ever since. Between 1918 and 1921 the baroque additions were stripped out and the interior returned to a bare early Christian basilica with reused Roman columns.

Its famous feature is accidental: the tenth-century crypt has subsided below the water table and is permanently flooded, so that the original mosaic floor lies under thirty centimetres of clear water in which goldfish swim. The tenth-century campanile stands separate from the church, and two Roman sarcophagi of the fifth century are set into the nave walls. Above the flooded crypt, the apse keeps its ninth-century form, and the nave columns were taken from Roman buildings in the city.

Basilica of San Francesco, Ravenna opening hours and the best time to go

Open daily from morning to evening with a break at midday. Ravenna is quiet compared with other Italian art cities, and this church is quieter still. The crypt light is on a timer and the water is clearest in the morning. September brings a month of Dante commemorations centred on the tomb next door, where a silence is observed in the small enclosure. The church is a working parish and closes for services.

Dress modestly. Photography is allowed. Allow twenty-five minutes with the tomb. The five mosaic monuments are all within a fifteen-minute walk and need a separate ticket. The Tomb of Dante is open daily and free, and the surrounding zona del silenzio is kept quiet by municipal order. The basilica is a five-minute walk from the covered market and the Piazza del Popolo, which are where the city eats at lunchtime.