HISTORY
Sant’Apollinare in Longana is located about eight kilometers from Ravenna, in the town of Longana, along road 67, which connects Ravenna and Forlì. According to tradition, the church was erected where Sant’Apollinare, the first bishop of Ravenna and patron of the city, found refuge when he was kicked out of the city by Pagan priests. The first written record of the church is from 1038, preserved in the Archiepiscopal archive in Ravenna. The church grew in prestige as a result of their burial privileges. In 1079, it became a pieve. Today, the main façade of the church faces east, but originally faced west, as was usually the custom for Christian churches.

ART-HISTORICAL NOTES
The medieval façade is still visible, as is the trace of the old portal. In the tympanum, a Greek cross is inserted into the wall. Four pilaster strips demarcate the space of the façade: two flank the portal and the other are located at the edges. The exact dates of the façade construction are uncertain, although the reversal of orientation had already occurred in 1717. The single-aisled, rectangular building has modest dimensions and a wood-trussed roof. A double-lancet window sits above the portal, and was restored several times. The most important restoration occurred in 1933.
The primary material utilized in the building is reused Roman stone. In the lateral walls, the various phases are easily distinguishable, as in the presence of the pilaster strips and three walled-in windows.
The old façade to the left has a rectangular campanile in the same kind of stone as the church. Double-lancet windows rest on marble colonnettes, reopened during the restorations. The campanile has a spire constructed between 1934-35.