Dante's Tomb
Dante's Tomb is located in the heart of Ravenna within the so-called zone of silence, which also includes the Quadrarco di Braccioforte, the Franciscan Cloisters and the Basilica of San Francesco. Inaugurated in 1936, this area was so named by architect Giorgio Rosi to emphasise the importance of silence as an act of respect and recollection towards this place full of history.
The burial place of the father of modern Italian language, the tomb also bears witness to the Supreme Poet's passage through the city. Dante Alighieri had been exiled from his native city, Florence. After some wandering he finally arrived in Ravenna, where he was received by the court of the Da Polenta family and where he remained until his death in 1321.
The Neoclassical Temple
Dante's Tomb was built between 1780 and 1782 by Ravenna
architect Camillo Morigia at the behest of Cardinal Legate Luigi Valenti Gonzaga, with the intention of giving a worthy burial to the Supreme Poet.
The small
neoclassical temple shows simple and refined lines. Covered with marble, the building houses a bronze garland, a tribute from the army following the First World War. Both decorations are in fact the result of a 20th-century addition that took place in the year of the anniversary of Dante's death (1921).
The marble portrait of the poet that we see inside is the work of the
sculptor Pietro Lombardo and dates back to 1483. Another special feature of the tomb is the votive ampulla donated by the Julian-Dalmatian cities in 1908, which burns perpetually thanks to the oil donated each year by the City of Florence as a tribute to the Supreme Poet.
The Quadrarco di Braccioforte
Next to the small temple is the
Quadrarco di Braccioforte, a quadrangular structure showing two sarcophagi from the 5th century in the centre and a mound linked to the story of Dante's bones.
The poet's remains have not always been inside the present tomb. They were kept for centuries i
nside the walls of the Convent of San Francesco, so as to save them from the Florentines who wanted to bring them back to Florence. Found in 1865, the poet's mortal remains were transported to today's small temple where they have rested until today, with one small exception. To protect them from possible damage, during the Second World War they were hidden in the very hillock of the Quadrarco di Braccioforte.
The name of this structure seems to derive from a popular legend according to which two pious men took an oath right here, invoking the protection and help of the 'strong arm of Christ' (braccio forte meaning “strong arm” in English).
