Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Dante and Lake Garda


It seems a long time now since the holiday in Italy so it's nice to look back at some of the photographs. Dante wandered around northern Italy during his long exile from Florence. You suspect that every town and village has a "Dante stayed here" story.

Riva del Garda, where we stayed, has a Dante street and the other town at the northern end of the lake, Torbole, has a bust of Dante (above) by sculptor Fernando Ciancianaini, know as Cian (1889-1954), who lived in Torbole for many years.

The Sirmione peninsula at the southern end of the lake also claims Dante connections. He is said to have stayed in the castle there. The town has a Via Dante and a Galleria Civica Dante Alighieri.

Dante stayed some time in Verona which we visited on a day trip. The city has a very impressive full size statue of the poet in the Piazza del Signori.

2 comments:

Ann said...

Interesting post. I checked out Dante's supposed house while in Florence last summer.

Michael Farry said...

Yes Ann I spent a week in Florence a couple of years ago. "Dante's house" was a disappointment but it's a wonderful city.