Standing in the Piazza Santa Croce, a statue of Dante looms over the square from the corner. Florence, where Durante degli Alighieri’s journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise was to begin but not end. In 1829 a tomb was built for him in the Basilica of Santa Croce—the largest Franciscan church in the world. The tomb has remained empty ever since as Dante’s body lies in Ravenna.
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Dante's Tomb
Standing in the Piazza Santa Croce, a statue of Dante looms over the square from the corner. Florence, where Durante degli Alighieri’s journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise was to begin but not end. In 1829 a tomb was built for him in the Basilica of Santa Croce—the largest Franciscan church in the world. The tomb has remained empty ever since as Dante’s body lies in Ravenna.
Dante's Daemons
Details in the walls surrounding Piazza Santa Croce. It Sommo Poeta (The Supreme Poet) has evoked an awful sense of reverence for centuries through his masterpiece La divina commedia (The Divine Comedy). Originally called Commedia by Dante (and later elaborated to Divina by Boccaccios) is a peculiar title for such a serious work, especially within the modern understanding of the word comedy. Yet as Dante himself wrote in a letter " the progression of the pilgrimage from Hell to Paradise is the paradigmatic expression of comedy, since the work begins with the pilgrims moral confusion and ends with the vision of God”.
Streets of Florence
Opting out of the usual insulated world of hotels, I rented an apartment up a narrow road from Piazza Santa Croce
All-Purpose Piazza
Piazza di Santa Croce is a place for old friends, new friends, romance in the form of true love and puppy love, the old and the young. There is a bench for every type. There is a time a day, where the sun shines just right, to make Santa Croce the right place to be. Rendezvous here and it will always be your sweet spot.
Santa Croce after the rain
The sun after the rain makes Florentine monuments sparkle even more...
