For all you dedicated travelers and book lovers, here’s a tough cruise destination question. This is the tomb of a well-known writer. For a bit of trivia, where is the tomb located and who is buried there?

A hint – he was a “divine” author.

Don’t look at the answer below until you’ve formulated your own response. Congratulations if you are correct. If not, you sure are not alone. Some passengers on my cruise went to the wrong place looking for this burial spot. So we live and learn.

 

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(Answer)   This is the great Dante’s tomb in Ravenna, Italy.  Although Dante was born in Florence and dearly loved that city, he spent the last years of his life in Ravenna after being exiled from Florence for his political beliefs.

It was in Ravenna during the end of his life that Dante wrote “The Divine Comedy.” He died in 1321.The mausoleum is quite small on a narrow lane and easily overlooked. I walked to it with no problem but heard back on the ship that some passengers couldn’t find it.

Don’t mistake a mound of earth next to the mausoleum as Dante’s final burial place. Another photographer did that and was showing me his photos of what he thought was the grave. That is actually where Dante’s urn was moved and buried from March 1944 to December 1945 because of fears that his tomb might be bombed during World War II. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Story and Photo by Jackie Sheckler Finch