📍Casa di Dante, Via Santa Margherita 1, 50122 Florence, Italy
1265 – 1302“I was born in 1265 in the crowded heart of medieval Florence, in the Alighieri houses near the Torre della Castagna and the little church of San Martino del Vescovo, a few streets from the Badia, whose bells marked our hours. My family was of old but modest nobility; my mother died when I was young, and my father when I was a youth. At nine I first saw Beatrice Portinari, who lived nearby, and loved her all my life, though we barely spoke; she died at twenty-four, and I wrote the Vita Nuova for her. I married Gemma Donati, fought for Florence at Campaldino, and served in its government. In 1302, while I was away on an embassy, my political enemies condemned me on false charges, and I was never allowed to return. In exile, eating the salt bread of others and climbing other men's stairs, I wrote the Divine Comedy, setting Beatrice in Paradise and my enemies in Hell. The Casa di Dante museum now stands where my family's houses stood.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
🛰️ Satellite view · © Google