Dante in Florence Literature Tour

Explore Dante Aligheri's connections to Florence and how the city inspired his Divine Comedy
From US$419 privately
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Tour Details
Duration
3 hours
Product Type
Tour
Venues
  • Dante's House
  • Baptistery of St. John
  • Palazzo dell'Arte della Lana
Photos & Highlights
  • Dante Tour in Florence explores Dante's life and work within the historical, social, cultural, and political context of Florence
  • Led by an Italian literature scholar
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Tour Description
Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265 A.D. He is widely accepted as the first author to write in the everyday vernacular that soon evolved into modern Italian, as well as credited with the creation of Italy's most enduring literary work, The Divine Comedy. Comprised of three separate canticles, the poem details a journey in the afterlife through L'inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise), and is as much a historical chronicle as it is a literary achievement. Written entirely after Dante's 1302 exile from the city, The Divine Comedy is a window into nearly every aspect of medieval history, theology, politics, art, and culture; in particular, as it relates to Florence. During this three hour Dante tour in Florence, led by a scholar, we will follow Dante's path through the city, exploring the places and characters that inspired his masterpiece—and, by extension explore both the life of Dante Alighieri as a historical figure and The Divine Comedy as a work of fiction where Florence as a city plays a central role.

Dante Tour Florence

We begin with a discussion of the Baptistery where Dante himself was baptized and where he later drew inspiration for L'inferno, drawing from the building's biblical mosaics depicting the Last Judgment. We will move from here to Dante's neighborhood, deep in the heart of medieval Florence, where we will find the exterior of Dante's home as well as his local church. It was at the church that he first encountered Beatrice, his beloved muse and spiritual guide for whom he wrote The Divine Comedy.

Please Note: As of recently the dome of the Baptistery is under restoration so the mosaics can't fully be seen. The rest of the structure is visitable, though there is a large scaffolding in the centre of the baptistery. Unfortunately, this restoration is said to take several years.

Then and Now

Along the way, we will see where Dante's enemies lived and explore the innumerable tucked away locations important to Dante's story: corners, side streets, and piazzas where many of his characters came to life. We will also visit Palazzo dell'Arte della Lana, important during Dante's time, as the location of the Wool Guild, but which today serves as The Dante Society meeting place, as well as the Dante Library where scholars from around the world come to continue to study his legendary poem.


Looking to explore the life of another distinguished Florentine? Discover the life of Michelangelo on our Accademia Gallery Tour. For those more interested in visual art, try our Uffizi Gallery Tour.
Experts
Lucy Lucy
Local Guide
Molly Molly
Art Historian
Agata Anna Agata Anna
Art Historian
Susanna Susanna
Art Historian
Sandro Sandro
Art Historian/Local Guide
Laura Laura
Art Historian
Sarah Sarah
Local Guide
Martino Martino
College instructor
Where You'll Start
(4.86) 40 Reviews

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Smart, engaging, knowledgeable guide. The tour is great!
Molly was fantastic! It was like touring the city and talking about Dante with a friend. Her knowledge about Dante within the context of the period in Florence was incredible. We highly recommend taking this tour it was one of the highlight of our visit!
We had a wonderful tour with Susanna, a warm and very knowledgeable guide. She gave us a tremendous amount of useful context for appreciating the relationship between Dante and his city, highlighting those parts of 13th-14th century Florence which are still standing and which played a part in his life and art. Highly recommend!