In Ravenna, you can find traces of many different phases of the Italian culture. Among these, a special mention goes to the one that includes the last years of Dante Alighieri, the Father of the Italian language.
Maybe not everyone knows that Dante Alighieri is not buried in Florence, but instead in Ravenna, where you can admire his tomb.
In the last years of his life, Dante lived in Ravenna at the court of Guido Novello da Polenta, where he took part in the cultural life of the city and ended his famous Comedy.
Here, between 13th e 14th September 1321, the Poet died of a malarial fever he contracted while he was coming back from Venice.
Why take a school trip to Ravenna?
In addition to its cultural and artistic heritage, Ravenna still keeps the memory of the Father of the Italian language alive.
If you are thinking about a school trip to Ravenna, please remember that there are many places and opportunities that you can take into consideration to plan your trip.
There is the Zone of Silence, an area of the historical centre that brings together the main monuments connected with the memory of Dante Alighieri.
There is his tomb, the Quadrarco of Braccioforte, the Old Franciscan Cloisters, the Basilica of San Francesco, Museo Dante and Casa Dante. Then, there are the prestigious library collections of the Classense Library and, just outside the city, the Pine forest of Classe, described as “dense, alive with green, divine” in the XXVIII Canto of Dante’s Purgatory.
The places and the itineraries are many, but one of them is particularly interesting: the reinterpretation of the Byzantine mosaics inside the Unesco Monuments following the words of Dante.
There is now little doubt that the Poet drew inspiration right from them for some passages of his Comedy.
