Dante Alighieri and his cenotaph

Dante Alighieri was a famous Italian poet that lived during the transition of the Late Medieval years and the Early Renaissance. He was born in Florence (Firenze in Italy) in 1265 and died in Ravenna in 1321. His most famous work is his Divine Comedy (Divina Comedia) that formed the depicting of hell as we still know it.

Why this article?

You probably already heard of Dante and his work, like in the recent movie/book Inferno by Dan Brown. But I wanted to write this post, because there is a common misunderstanding about his burial place.

The tomb of Dante

The picture you can see below was taken by me in the Santa Croce church in Florence (a tip to visit). And although it looks like the tomb of Dante (there are other famous tombs in the church), it isn't.

Dante was exiled from Florence and that's why he died in Ravenna. Although he was loved (especialy afterwards) in his hometown Florence, his body never returned.

The cenotaph

Florence was hoping that the body of Dante would return back to his hometown. That's why they already created his 'tomb'. This is called a cenotaph. And although alot of tourists seeing this monument think that Dante's remains are resting there, it's not. He's still in Ravenna.

You can visit the birthplace of Dante in Florence and you can find his death mask, which gives you a good idea of what he may have looked like. But to visit his remains? Ravenna is the place to be!

Thank you for reading and have fun on your next vacation!

Rob