La Chiesa di Santa Margherita dei Cerchi is a church dedicated to Saint Margaret the Virgin. It is said that this is the location of Dante’s marriage to Genma Donati. It houses the tomb of Beatrice Portinari. Visitors write letters to Beatrice asking her to fix their love lives.

 

 

 

Beatrice Portinari was the great love of Dante Aligerheri. However, Dante claims to have only met Beatrice only two times. She has been the principal inspiration for many of Dante’s works. In the Divine Comedy, Beatrice is the guide who takes Dante to heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gemma Donati was the wife of Dante. She was a member of the powerful Donati family. Dante never had any great feeling for her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

La Vita Nuova is a text written by Dante about his love, Beatrice. It is notable for being written in Italian.

 

 

 

 

 

“sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story” is the opening of Homer’s The Odyssey. When Dan Brown visited Beatrice’s tomb, he himself left that quote asking for assistance to finish his novel, the Inferno.

Scusate! Potete ascoltarmi tutti – Excuse me! Can everyone listen to me?