Dante’s Tomb, adjacent to the Basilica di San Francesco in Ravenna, was built by the architect Camillo Morigia in 1780. A neo-classical temple, it houses the bones of the celebrated poet Dante Alighieri who spent the last years of his life here, dying in 1321. Inside, a relief by Pietro Lombardo carved in 1483 above the sarcophagus pictures Dante by a reading stand; in the centre, an 18th century votive lamp is fed with olive oil from the Tuscan Apennines donated annually by the city of Florence on the second Sunday of September in memory of the poet’s death.
To the right a gate leads to a small garden where the Quadrarco di Braccioforte, an oratory in ancient times, shelters two sarcophagi.
The tomb is a national monument and silence and respect are required in the surrounding area known as the “zona dantesca”, the Dante zone. The area includes the poet’s tomb, the garden with the Quadrarco and the Franciscan cloisters housing the Dante Museum.
Emilia-Romagna Film Commission
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Email: filmcom@regione.emilia-romagna.it
