by Maria
Durante Alighieri, known as Dante, was born in Florence in 1265 into a minor noble family. From a young age, he showed a passion for poetry, philosophy, and the arts, growing up in the vibrant cultural atmosphere of medieval Florence.
His encounter with Beatrice Portinari, the woman who inspired his love and his poetry, profoundly shaped his life and his work.
Besides being a poet, Dante was also a politician: he took an active part in the public life of his city and in 1300 was elected Prior of Florence. But the political divisions between White and Black Guelphs led to his downfall: in 1302 he was sentenced to perpetual exile and never returned to Florence.
During his years in exile, he lived in several Italian cities — including Verona, Bologna, and Ravenna — continuing to write and to reflect on human and divine destiny.
It was during this period that he composed his most famous work, the Divine Comedy, a masterpiece describing an imaginary journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, symbolizing the soul’s path toward salvation.
Dante died in Ravenna in 1321, probably from malaria, shortly after completing Paradise.
His legacy is immense: with the Divine Comedy, he gave form to the Italian language and left the world one of its greatest works of literature.
Why Dante is so important
Dante is considered the “father of the Italian language” because, by choosing to write in the Florentine vernacular instead of Latin, he made literature accessible to everyone.
The Divine Comedy, with its journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, is much more than a poem — it is a journey into the human soul, faith, and justice, which continues to captivate readers all over the world.
Dante’s Florence
Visiting Florence also means following in the footsteps of its most famous citizen. The city still preserves many places connected to the life and memory of Dante.
Dante’s House
Located in the heart of the historic center, between Via Santa Margherita and Via Dante Alighieri, it now houses a museum dedicated to the poet.
Visitors can discover documents, reconstructions, and curiosities about his life and about medieval Florence.
The house we see today is not Dante’s original home — that was destroyed centuries ago — but a faithful reconstruction built in the early 20th century, right in the neighborhood where the poet was born in 1265.
The museum covers three floors, each devoted to a different aspect of his life: 13th-century Florence, Dante’s political career and exile, and the literary legacy of his work.
Among the highlights are:
a reconstruction of a typical 14th-century bourgeois bedroom;
a room dedicated to the Tribunal of the Priors, where Dante served before his exile;
and documents describing the dramatic sentence that banished him forever from his city.
Church of Santa Margherita de’ Cerchi
Known as the “Church of Beatrice”, this small and intimate church is said to be the place where Dante first met Beatrice Portinari, the woman who inspired his eternal love.
Beatrice belonged to the powerful Portinari family, who owned a tomb inside the church.
Even today, visitors leave notes and letters of love beside her commemorative plaque — a gesture that keeps alive the legend of a love that transcends time.
The Baptistery of San Giovanni
Dante affectionately called it “my beautiful San Giovanni.”
Here he was baptized, and he mentions it in the Divine Comedy with deep devotion. The magnificent mosaic of the Last Judgment decorating the dome is a clear source of inspiration for his vision of the afterlife.
For Dante, this was not just a religious building but the spiritual heart of his belonging to Florence — the city that saw him born, love, and be exiled. His baptism, under the golden light of the mosaics, symbolized a sacred and indissoluble bond with his homeland.
The Sasso di Dante
Right next to the Cathedral, in Piazza delle Pallottole, there is a stone known as “Dante’s Rock.”
According to legend, Dante often sat here to watch the construction of Santa Maria del Fiore or to meditate and compose his verses.
Beatrice Portinari’s House
Just a few steps away, in Via del Corso, stands the so-called House of Beatrice — though it’s uncertain whether the Portinari family actually lived there.
Today a plaque marks the spot where the woman who inspired Dante’s eternal love once lived — the heroine of the Vita Nuova and the spiritual symbol of the Divine Comedy.
Walking past this house, along the narrow medieval streets, feels like stepping back in time, imagining the young poet moved by the sight of his Beatrice.
Dante and the Florence of Political Factions
At the end of the 13th century, Florence was a powerful city torn apart by political rivalries: Guelphs and Ghibellines, then Whites and Blacks. Dante, aligned with the White Guelphs, played an active political role and was even elected Prior of Florence in 1300. The Palazzo del Bargello, at that time the seat of the Podestà (chief magistrate), was the center of civic power — and it was here that Dante’s sentence was pronounced.
The Condemnation and the Exile
In 1302, while Dante was in Rome on a diplomatic mission, his political enemies seized power. The new government accused him of corruption and sentenced him and his allies to exile.
The verdict was harsh: confiscation of his property and death by fire if he ever returned to Florence. From that moment, Dante never set foot in his beloved city again.
Piazza della Signoria: The face of Florentine power
Not far from the Bargello, Piazza della Signoria was and remains the political heart of Florence.
In Dante’s time, it was the seat of the Republican government, where the Priors met to make decisions that shaped the city’s destiny. Today, with Palazzo Vecchio and the Loggia dei Lanzi, the square tells another glorious chapter of Florentine history — yet it still retains the sense of power and authority that Dante knew well.
No Dante itinerary in Florence would be complete without a visit to the Basilica of Santa Croce, one of the city’s most majestic and beloved landmarks.
Although Dante is not buried here — his tomb is in Ravenna — inside the church stands a grand cenotaph erected in his honor in the 19th century, a symbol of Florence’s eternal regret for her exiled poet.
Following Dante’s footsteps through Florence means rediscovering the city through new eyes - not only as the jewel of the Renaissance, but as the cradle of Italian language and culture. Every street, tower, and square of the historic center still echoes with his voice, which continues to speak to us of love, justice, and freedom.
