Dante's Tomb is the small neoclassical temple on Via Dante Alighieri in Ravenna, next to the Basilica of San Francesco. The poet of the Divine Comedy has lain here since he died in the city in 1321, far from Florence, which had exiled him. Florence later spent centuries trying to get his remains back, and Ravenna's Franciscan friars hid the bones so well that they were only found again, by chance, in 1865.
Dante's Tomb at a glance
- Where: Via Dante Alighieri, in the historic centre of Ravenna, beside the Basilica of San Francesco and the old Franciscan cloisters.
- Built: 1780–1781; the portrait relief inside is older, from 1483.
- By: the Ravenna architect Camillo Morigia, for Cardinal Luigi Valenti Gonzaga, the papal legate in Romagna.
- What it is today: the poet's resting place and the centre of the Zona del Silenzio (Zone of Silence), a quiet area that also takes in the Quadrarco di Braccioforte, the Franciscan cloisters and the Museo Dante.
- Time needed: 15–20 minutes for the tomb and the garden, about an hour if you add the Museo Dante.
Exile, an empty sarcophagus and a box in the wall
Dante Alighieri was banished from Florence in 1302 and never went back. He spent his last years in Ravenna as a guest of its lord, Guido Novello da Polenta, completed the Divine Comedy there and died on the night between 13 and 14 September 1321. His funeral was held at San Francesco and he was buried in a marble sarcophagus beside the church. In 1483 Bernardo Bembo, who governed Ravenna for the Republic of Venice, had the grave restored and commissioned the relief portrait by Pietro Lombardo that still hangs inside.
Florence soon regretted the exile and asked for the remains more than once. In 1519 Pope Leo X, a Medici, gave his permission, but when the Florentine delegation opened the sarcophagus it was empty: the friars had already taken the bones. In 1677 the friar Antonio Santi put them in a wooden box and signed it. When Napoleon's government suppressed the monasteries in 1810, the box was hidden again and the secret was lost. In 1865, during works for the 600th anniversary of Dante's birth, a mason found it in a wall near the Braccioforte chapel, marked 'Dantis ossa' (Dante's bones). Apart from the war years, the bones have been in the tomb ever since.
What to look for
- The façade: the gate, the coat of arms of Cardinal Valenti Gonzaga and the Latin words 'Dantis poetae sepulcrum' (the tomb of the poet Dante). People in Ravenna nickname the little domed building the 'sugar bowl'.
- The relief: Pietro Lombardo's 1483 portrait shows Dante deep in thought at a lectern, above the sarcophagus.
- The epitaph: the Latin verses on the sarcophagus were written by Bernardo Canaccio in the 14th century. They end by calling Dante the son of 'Florence, a mother of little love'.
- The votive lamp hanging from the ceiling. It burns Tuscan olive oil that Florence sends every September, when a delegation from the city comes for the anniversary of Dante's death.
- The mound in the garden by the Quadrarco di Braccioforte: the bones were buried here from March 1944 to December 1945 to protect them from bombing, and the spot is still marked.
- Dante's bell, behind the tomb: placed in 1921, the 600th anniversary of his death, it rings 13 times every evening at the hour of the Ave Maria.
Florence's empty tomb
Florence never got its poet back. In 1829 it unveiled a large monument to Dante in the basilica of Santa Croce, but it is a cenotaph: the tomb there is empty. The oil for the lamp in Ravenna is Florence's gesture of homage to the poet it once sent away. Ravenna keeps his memory alive in its own way too: every day a canto of the Divine Comedy is read aloud in front of the tomb.
Tips for your visit
- Keep your voice down: the streets around the tomb are the Zona del Silenzio, and visitors are asked to stay quiet and respectful.
- You look into the tomb from its doorway rather than walk around inside, so give others a turn if a group is waiting.
- Come early in the morning or towards evening, after the day-trip groups have left. Stay until dusk and you may hear the bell.
- Pair the visit with the Basilica of San Francesco next door, where Dante's funeral was held the day after his death.
Nearby
- Basilica of San Francesco: the church right next to the tomb. Its crypt lies below the water table and is permanently flooded, with fish swimming over the old mosaic floor.
- Museo Dante: in the Franciscan cloisters beside the tomb, with objects and documents about the poet and the long story of his remains.
- Piazza del Popolo: Ravenna's main square, with two tall Venetian columns and café tables, a few minutes' walk away.
- Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia: the city's best-known Byzantine mosaics, a short walk across the centre.
See Ravenna with World City Trail
Our Ravenna scavenger hunt turns the historic centre into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 38 minutes of walking, and it includes the Giardini Pubblici, the city's public gardens. You can play in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish or Dutch.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Ravenna.
Play the Ravenna scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Ravenna →
Play the outdoor escape game in Ravenna →
Facts checked in October 2026.