Overview
The Poet's Tomb is a magical place of great calm and peace that attracts visitors from all over the world. Built near the Basilica of San Francesco in the centre of Ravenna, it’s the burial place of one of history's greatest poets: Dante Alighieri. Built in 1780 by architect Camillo Morigia, it’s shaped like a square-plan, neoclassical temple crowned by a small dome.
Dante’s remains inside are the subject of an unusual story. After a long and bitter dispute between Ravenna and Florence, they disappeared and were jealously guarded by Franciscan monks between the 16th and 18th centuries. In 1810, they disappeared once again before being rediscovered in 1865 during maintenance work on the convent adjacent to the tomb. Thus, they were definitively placed in the Poet's Tomb. The votive lamp inside the tomb is fuelled with oil from the Tuscan hills, which is donated by the City of Florence in memory of the Supreme Poet every second Sunday of September.
This monument is not the only interesting monument in the area. The Basilica of San Vitale, the Baptistery of the Ariani and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia are all splendid examples of Byzantine art and architecture.
