Let’s start this itinerary from the end. Here, we are in front of Dante’s Tomb, a little building created at the end of the 18th century by famous local architect Camillo Morigia, who also created other constructions in Ravenna, like the suggestive façade of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Porto.
It’s a little corner of peace and respect in the medieval heart of the city, shadowed by the big logs of a nearby tree and animated by the whispers of the loads of tourists that every day come here to pay homage to the great Poet.

Dante’s Tomb (Ravenna) | Photo © Giacomo Banchelli, Archive RavennaTourism images
If you look inside, you will be enraptured by the big Renessaince bass-relief (1483) that depicts Dante absorbed in the reading, made by sculptor Pietro Lombardi (the same who realised the famous Statue of Guidarello, just to be clear) and an 18th-century torch, lit by the Oil of Tuscan Olive trees, given every year, on every second Sunday of September, by the Municipality of Florence to homage Dante’s memory.
On one side, a little garden emerges, building a unique complex with Dante’s Tomb. It is known as Quadrarco di Braccioforte and it is an ancient oratory that, at Dante’s times, should have been connected to the nearby Basilica of San Francesco, which has been the focus of a series of stories related to the remains of the Supreme Poet.
Now, it hosts two huge marble sarcophagi of Roman times and a little Belltower that, at sunset, plays thirteen tolls, reminding the famous tercets, a structure-element of Dante’s work.
Joni Ravenna
Hello Davide,
I just finished your article and enjoyed it very much. My maiden name is Ravenna and I’m a playwright.
I’m actually currently doing some research work for a new play which will involve Dante and Ravenna.
Thank you again for this wonderful article. Your English is much better than my Italian 🙂
Davide Marino
Hi Joni,
thank you so much for your feedback. You were very kind!
I knew that Ravenna was a person’s name, I did not even think a maiden name. How cool is that!
In occasion of the 750th anniversary of Dante’s death, Ravenna is organizing lots of initiatives, including theatrical performance like this one: http://www.ravennafestival.org/en/events/inferno/
Best regards
Davide