Here, in the very heart of the medieval city, where documentary evidence indicates the Alighieri family home once stood, Dante was born around the end of May or the beginning of June 1265.
The Dante Alighieri House Museum is located in an old Florentine quarter, not far from the Church of Santa Margherita. They say it was in this church that the poet admired his “secret” beloved, who became his muse, Beatrice Portinari. A separate exhibition in the museum is even dedicated to Dante's platonic love for Beatrice.
Unfortunately, none of Dante's personal belongings have survived. But there are many paintings depicting the poet at different periods of his life. The museum also contains documents, photographs, and drawings that help form a general idea of the life of the famous poet, who was far from immediately recognized by his contemporaries.
Flickr, Tom Wolbrink
The highlight of the tour can be considered the screening of an abridged video version of the Divine Comedy. It is a sequence of illustrations for the work by Gustave Dore, with brief plot commentary and quotations. The museum also has several sculptures and paintings depicting Dante himself and the hell described in his main work.
And in one of the rooms, historians have tried to recreate the everyday life of those times: here stands a bed with the red garments that are so familiar to us from Dante's portraits. And it creates the complete feeling that the poet is among us; he has simply stepped out of the bedroom for a minute and is about to return.
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