Theodoric's tomb stands alone on the northern edge of Ravenna, among trees and grass, a squat two-storey block of white stone crowned by a single enormous dome. The king of the Ostrogoths ruled Italy from Ravenna for thirty-odd years until his death in 526, and he planned his own mausoleum before the end. It is built of Istrian limestone, dressed so tightly that no mortar was needed, and the roof is a single slab hollowed into a shallow dome, carried across the Adriatic from the Istrian coast. How they lifted it is still discussed.
It is a strange monument, partly Roman and partly Germanic. The ten-sided lower storey has arched niches, and a decorative frieze runs around the top in a motif of pincers that scholars link with Gothic metalwork. Theodoric had been educated as a hostage at the court in Constantinople, and admired Roman civilisation, yet he remained an Arian Christian and a Gothic king, and the building holds both identities. His body was later removed, and the porphyry basin in the upper chamber is thought to have been his sarcophagus.
The location has its own interest. Ravenna's harbour once lay near here, and the name of the village of Porto Fuori nearby preserves a memory of it. The coastline has retreated several kilometres since, and the rows of tall pines that border the flat land to the east are the remains of what was once a dense forest between the city and the sea.
This is an easy stop for a rider because the tomb has its own small park with room for a bike nearby and is outside the tightest restricted streets. The road in from the ring road is wide and fast, then slows as it nears the city. Fuel is available throughout Ravenna, and the northern outskirts, towards the Adriatic coast, have plenty of options.
The ridge of gypsum at Monte Penzola on the Vena del Gesso lies two hours away, a good ride south and west over the hills, and the natural material there makes a good companion to this stone.