Where the Bodies are Buried . . . Or Not

Not Photoshopped, Just Awesome Timing
Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence, Italy

Our final sight in Florence was the Basilica di Santa Croce, or Holy Cross Basilica. The draw of this church was the vast quantity of influential Florentines buried inside. There are monuments to Dante, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo to name a few. But wait, monuments aren’t bodies. Dante has large detailed monuments both inside and outside the church, but he is actually buried in Ravenna. Dante was in exile when he died, so he wasn’t buried in his home city. Florence seems to have realized its mistake in exiling Dante though, because they tried numerous times to retrieve his remains. However, Ravenna went to great lengths to protect them, even hiding them at one point. Eventually Florence gave up this pursuit, but built Dante a tomb anyway. It’s empty and probably always will be.

Dante, the one that got away

It's all a LIE!

 Side note about exiling: the first time I read Romeo and Juliet I thought it was really strange that they banished Romeo, and that he was losing his mind over. I thought to myself, who banishes someone? Really? Banished? But apparently, there is historical evidence of this actually happening. If Dante were ever to return to Florence, he would have been burnt at the stake. Also, when he was exiled, all his assets were seized, so it may have been difficult to start a new life. Still, exiling and banishment are interesting punishments. I wonder why they didn’t survive.

. . . but we all know who the Golden Child is.

Yeah, Machiavelli was all right . . . .

Back to Santa Croce, and their monuments . . . Florence clearly used these monuments to display the perceived importance of the deceased. Comparing Michelangelo to Machiavelli leaves poor Niccolo looking like a red headed step child.

Don't get burnt

Also scattered around the basilica are seemingly unmarked tombs in the floor. These have been here for centuries and their words have been rubbed off by countless generations of careless feet. Personally, I try not to walk on any graves (inside or out) because I was taught that doing so would be disrespectful. Attempting this in Santa Croce was like playing “the floor is lava” game. Several times we ended up boxed in and had to retrace our steps.

The Cloisters

In addition to the tombs and monuments the church is adorned with art from many of the masters, including the purple turtle namesake, Donatello. Outside and immediately adjacent to the basilica are the former cloisters of the monks. These walkways still retain the peace and serenity of their previous intention. Sitting there among the columned park was a lovely way to wind down and meditate on a hectic day Florence.



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Photos from our Trip!

Santa Croce Basilica

Florence City Card We weren't in the city long enough to get full use out of the card, but if you are staying more than a few hours, city cards are usually worth buying