{"id":2908,"date":"2025-06-04T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/?p=2908"},"modified":"2025-06-04T10:00:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T09:00:07","slug":"st-agatha-and-motor-cycling-in-inferno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/st-agatha-and-motor-cycling-in-inferno\/","title":{"rendered":"St Agatha, Ravenna and Motor Cycling in Inferno"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Procession of female saints leaving Classis (bottom left) behind the Three Kings heading to the Virgin Mary (bottom right between four angels). Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo (pic. Wikipedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today, I am in Ravenna. One of those places where the history brings gasps of amazement.\u00a0 To honour my visit, I thought I should roll out last year’s post. This is what I said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I revised my Saint Agatha post (link see below), I felt I needed an early image of Agatha.  After all, her cult spread early on, and therefore, was likely to be genuine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I started to track down her image I was led, with some joy, to one of the most amazing Churches in the wonderful town of Ravenna. I visited the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo with some wonderment when working as an archaeologist at Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna. Forty Years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found out that Agatha was one of 22 female Saints on one of the walls of the Church.\u00a0I discovered a pretty comprehensive description of the Church. As I looked at it, I noticed the record was made by, or involved, Professor Bryan Ward-Perkins. He was the Director of the site my friends and I worked on in Ferrara! (And I met him again last night, 2025 for the first time in years!\u00a0 We had dinner with fellow archaeologists, and Bryan was talking about the work he did on the Saints of St Apollinaire.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Medieval Excavation in Ferrara. The author is in the centre of the photo,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ravenna<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m guessing Bryan suggested we visit Ravenna on one of our trips to the beach at nearby Rimini. Ravenna was so awesome because the City became the capital of the Roman Empire in the West. It took over when Rome fell, then it was part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, then of the Byzantine Empire. It spanned the period of the Arian Heresy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, it was provided with some of the great glories of 5th and 6th Century Architecture. These include the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Neronian Baptistery, the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, the Arian Baptistery, the Archiepiscopal Chapel, the Mausoleum of Theodoric, the Church of San Vitale and the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe. It’s hard to overestimate the impact on a young British archaeologist of seeing 5th Century buildings with roofs and astonishingly detailed mosaics still intact. Please visit! <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Detail showing the first four female saints behind the Three Kings. Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bryan Ward-Perkins description says ‘<\/strong>All the saints are haloed, bear crowns and are dressed in elaborate court dress. Unlike the men …., all have essentially the same youthful features. The only saint with a distinguishing attribute is Agnes, who is accompanied by a lamb<\/em>.’ The men are given some personality, some have white beards others are youthful. While all the female martyrs are, essentially young virgins, and cannot be distinguished from each other. St Agatha, the list says, is the Saint next to Agnes with her lamb; the third in precedent. You can see her above and in detail below.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
St Agatha
Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Motorcycling from Ravenna to Inferno<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Enough of the sublime! Now for the ridiculous. Whether on this visit or another, we decided to have a day at the beach at Rimini. After the day on the beach, a collective decision to stay over was made. The reason was to go to one of the big clubs (did we still call them discos?) probably to dance to ‘Frankie Goes to Hollywood’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Archaeologists, Italian and English, on the beach at Lido di Spina<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, the hotels were all full. So I decided, late at night, to go back to Ferrara, on my own on my 175 cc Yamaha motorbike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
My Yamaha 175cc bike looked something like this but was red. A thing of underpowered beauty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thing was, I had started the day in Ferrara in the blazing Italian summer heat. So, I had hopped onto my bike dressed in shorts and t-shirt. Ferrara was 77 miles away (says google). One hour into the trip back, I was getting pretty cold, and really not enjoying driving through the lonely countryside. Therefore, I decided to pull off the main road to find a rural hostelry for what remained of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I remember this very vividly – the only likely road I could find was signposted to ‘Inferno’. I shrugged my shoulders, wondering what that was about, and drove towards it on a very deserted road. Eventually, I came to a sign which told me I was about to enter ‘Inferno’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was something very surreal about the situation. My courage failed me! I was not going to stay in a ‘motel’ in a place called ‘inferno’! I had seen too many horror films set in Motels and one in Inferno seemed madness. So, I turned round and continued my cold journey to Ferrara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inferno<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whenever I tell this story, I have some doubt about it.  Did I really drive into a place called ‘Inferno’? But I have, for the first time, checked Google. It tells me that the road off the Rimini to Ferrara road goes through somewhere called: Vicolo Inferno, 40026 Imola BO, Italy.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is the post about St Agatha of Sicil<\/a>y who has a most interesting story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
St Agatha Feast Day February 5th<\/a><\/blockquote>