Dante's Plaque: Alighieri's Houses

“GLI ANTICHI MIEI ED IO NACQUI NEL LOCO DOVE SI TROVA PRIA L' ULTIMO SESTO DA QUEL CHE CORRE IL VOSTRO ANNUAL GIUOCO.”

DANTE, PAR., XVI, 40-42.

“MY ANCESTORS AND I OUR BIRTHPLACE HAD WHERE FIRST IS FOUND THE LAST WARD OF THE CITY BY HIM WHO RUNNETH IN YOUR ANNUAL GAME.”

Dante is in Paradise where, through the words of his great-grandfather Cacciaguida, he let us know the place where the houses of his own family, the Alighieri, once stood. To help the reader identify the exact location, the poet refers to the Palio di San Giovanni ("annual game"), and the route of the horses starting their race from Ponte alle Mosse, crossing the heart of the city and, at the last ward, passing near the Alighieri’s houses.

To discover Dante’s Florence click here.