TRICIA Carr, a U3A member, led her audience at the October meeting through an architectural tour-de-force of two city states in northern Italy.

First Ravenna, famed for its mosaics and once an important Roman naval base on the Adriatic.

Its Byzantine heritage was brought to life with slides showing the great beauty of the mosaics and the complicated symbolism depicted in all of them.

The future design of churches, too, originated in Ravenna, and Dante's tomb still attracts many visitors. Parma, a city of music, with the birthplace of Guiseppi Verdi nearby, was also home to the artists Parmigiano and Corregio and its octagonal baptistry is the most decorated in Italy.

Curiously, the Buddhist legend of Baarlam dating from 1198 is to be found among the mosaics there.

Italian food also featured, including the surprising fact that large Parmesan cheeses could once be stored in bank vaults against their owners' debts.

Following Napoleon's conquest of Italy French influences became evident in Parma, including the perfume, Parma Violets, created for Marie Louisa, the Duchess of Parma, by the perfumier Borsani.