Dante Birthplace Site - Florence

Dante Alighieri's birthplace site is located on Via Santa Margherita in Florence, Italy.  It was here the famed Italian poet was born in 1265.  Not much is known of his early life and what is has been ascertained from his writings in The Divine Comedy.  What is known for certain is that for most of his early life he was at least peripherally involved in the feud between the Guelphs, supporters of the papacy, whom the Alighieri family supported, and the Ghibellines, who followed the Holy Roman Emperor.  After the defeat of the Ghibellines, the Guelps split into two factions, white and black.  Whites, whom Dante supported, wanted more freedom from Rome, while blacks supported the pope.  The White Guelphs rose to power first and espelled the blacks from Florence.  In retaliation Pope Boniface VIII planned to invade Florence.  The White Guelphs sent a delegation to Rome to discuss matters with the pope.  It was during this time that Dante was detained in Rome while the Black Guelphs took over Florence and terrorized the city.  He was then sent into exile in 1302.  During his years in Florence Dante was married, with three children, and held a position with the Physicians and Apothecaries Guild.  He would never return to Florence after his exile, although offers were made he always refused the terms, and he died in Ravenna in 1321, the year after he published his most famous work The Divine Comedy.  In the years after his death the family home was partitioned out, renovated, and remodeled on various occasions, eventually falling into a state of irretrievable disrepair.  It wasn't until 1865 that any major excavations were done to ascertain the exact location of the Alighieri home.  Based on tax records and a lawsuit charge the location of the home was pinpointed and extraneous buildings were torn down.  The current structure was built in 1911 on the location of the former homestead.  In 1965 the Museo Casa di Dante was opened to the public, and remains a museum to this day.       

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