Silent Play for Two Poets: Dante and Byron in Ravenna – An Immersive Journey through Words, Places, and Inspirations

Discover the final years of Dante Alighieri and the events that link the Supreme Poet to the city of Ravenna, the last stop of his exile and the place that preserves his remains. But who was Dante, and how did he come to be here? After his exile from his beloved Florence, due to political reasons and conflicts with the authorities of the time, Dante found refuge in Ravenna, where he was welcomed by the Da Polenta court. In this city, the poet completed the Divine Comedy, the work that would make him immortal and mark Italian and world culture.   During the tour, you will explore not only these aspects of Dante's life but also the most symbolic and intimate places connected to his figure. The visit begins at the Basilica of San Francesco, where the Poet's funeral was held, then continues to the Zone of Silence, an area of great charm and spirituality where Dante rests. This is the heart of Dante's Ravenna, which still honors the Poet’s memory and preserves his remains.   We will continue with a visit to Casa Dante, a multifunctional space created through collaboration between the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and the Classense Library in Ravenna. Here, you will discover fascinating details about Dante’s life and works in a setting dedicated to his cultural legacy.   The tour concludes at the Dante Museum, a historic museum recently renewed with multimedia technology, narrating the story of Dante and his legacy through the centuries. This museum is the ideal custodian of Dante's story, carefully preserved by the city he chose as his final refuge.

Ravenna is the last shelter of Dante, the father of the italian language, and it is the city that hosts his grave which is the starting point of our tour. We will retrace together the traces left by the Supreme Poet in Ravenna during the fourteenth century and all the following years. It is an opportunity to discover Dante Alighieri’s adventures in his last years, the exile, the life in the city, the death and the struggling dispute for his remains, as well as the enhancements of the sepulchre over the centuries.