The next leg of our journey took us to Florence, Italy.

The sites we visited in and around Florence are listed in yellow at left.

Click on them for more information and pictures.

Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 in Florence.  He eventually died in Ravenna in 1319.  Dante's most famous work is the Divine Comedy, which he wrote in the Italian vernacular language.  This was an influence later on Geoffrey Chaucer.  Dante wrote in both Latin and Italian.  Dante's Divine Comedy was influenced by the Bible and by Virgil's Aeneid.  The Divine Comedy is basically a story of Dante through three kingdoms: Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio) and Heaven (Paradiso).  This is a very over-simplified description of the work. 

While in Florence we visited many Dante sites, unfortunately the main site, Casa di Dante, was closed for renovations!  We did go to Dante's Church (Chiesa di Dante which is also Cheisa di Margherita).  It's a very small church, which you would only notice if you read the plaque on the wall beside the door.  It is pretty none the less and has a painting of Dante meeting Beatrice.  This meeting would be the inspiration for some of Dante's best known poems. 

 There are many Dante sites in and around Florence.  Such sites usually have a plaque describing the site.  One such place was a building on Via Por Santa Maria (north side of the Arno- connects to the Ponte Vecchio)  Amongst all the Gelati shops, shoe shops and money exchange counters sat this Dante building, expertly spotted by Dr. Wawrzycka.  On it is a plaque with a quote from Dante's Paradiso section of a Divine Comedy. 

 We also ate at a small outdoor place called Il Sasso di Dante which was right next to the Duomo.  The receipts are complete with a portrait of Dante!  He was also pictured on the menu of a restaurant we walked past...

There is also a street in Florence called Via Dante Alighieri.  He is all over the city, in much the same way as Joyce is all over Dublin!  Since Dante was exiled from Florence, there are many surrounding areas with Dante sites as well.  He lived in nearby towns such as Lucca and used the nearby town of Monteriggioni as a simile for the abyss in the Inferno where he compares the towers of Monteriggioni to giants standing in a moat. 

*** The information on Monteriggioni comes from Eyewitness Travel Guides: Florence and Tuscany 2003. Page 206-207. ***  Other information on this page comes from/is confirmed by the website www.greatdante.net. ***