2021. ITALY DISCOVERS DANTE ALL OVER AGAIN
Travelers have few but very specific wishes for the new year. “Tailor-made” travels, clear cancellation policies, reimbursement procedures and insurance by airlines as well as hotels. Be it mountain or seaside. Art cities or villages. In apartments or hotels. Whatever the case may be, travel in safety and relaxation, with an eye to protecting the environment by looking into sustainable travel. According to the OPPO Smart Studies observatory – which has analyzed the changes and trends of the tourism sector’s future – greater attention to every detail is what’s required for the 2021 “precision” tourism.
And what about destinations? As far as Italy is concerned, “proximity” tourism continues to be the preferred choice; easily reachable destinations, in natural surroundings, to enjoy quality experiences and savor local culture and traditions. A “slow” tourism made of walks or bike rides, in those often-unknown places of this beautiful country of ours. In the mountainside, activities such as trekking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. And of course, meditation. Wellness and harmony paths that are good for the mind, body and the spirit which is nourished by nature’s energy. There are many dates and anniversaries to remember this year. Though – more than anything else – 2021 is “Dante’s year,” as it marks 700 years from the Supreme Poet’s death (1265-1321).
Last year, the Ministry for Culture established March 25th as the Dantedì, or “Dante’s day,” as it is the day in which – according to scholars – the Divine Comedy journey commences.
“Dante is the Italian language; Dante is the very idea of Italy ”, says Culture Minister Dario Franceschini. The cultural project with Dante is also created by way of travel itineraries. In 2021, the most beautiful journey with Le Vie di Dante (Roads of Dante), sees Italy among the winners of the Best in Travel 2021; an award for those journeys that make the world a better place. According to the Lonely Planet travel guides, “Roads of Dante” are the world’s best walks for this year. The proposed itineraries bring travelers into discovering the beauties in areas between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany. Traveling slowly – through hamlets, the countryside, small towns, art cities, walking by castles, woods and extraordinary landscapes. A journey into discovering an incomparable literary, artistic, historical and natural heritage. A journey “led” by the poet into knowledge and culture, through the paths of feelings, myths, politics, science, philosophy and religion.
The “Dante’s Italy” project – promoted by the Dante Alighieri Society in collaboration with the MIBACT National Committee – takes us to those places once visited by the poet or mentioned in the Divine Comedy. Interesting itineraries between the history of literature and art history; a project aimed at promoting the territories under a tourist-literary perspective, inspired by the accurate and compelling tale by essayist Giulio
Ferroni: “Dante’s Italy. Journey into the Land of the Divine Comedy.”
A nearly 400-kilometer path connecting Florence – his birthplace – to Ravenna, where the poet spent the last years of his life.
From Ravenna – a Byzantine city known also for its mosaics and which houses Dante’s tomb – through medieval paths and small towns such as Pontevico and Oriolo; thereafter towards Forlì or Brisighella, thought to be one of Italy’s most beautiful towns.
In the Poet’s footsteps, from Brisighella through to San Benedetto in Alpe and the Acquacheta mule track (“just one leap, though perhaps powered by a thousand streams”), to San Godenzo, Dicomano, Pontassieve, and reaching Florence. On the alternative route – which also reaches Florence though setting off from Forlì, there are other jewels such as Dovadola, Portico di Romagna, Premilcuore, Casalino Poppi, Prato di Strada and Pieve Pitiana.
Remembering Dante, and not only through Ravenna and Florence, but also minor places and residences which have hosted him during the time of his exile. Examples of these are the Malaspina (or Fosdinovo) Castle, and cities such as Verona, Mantua and Bologna, as well as the valley which marks the border between Tuscany and Liguria, the Casentino, located between Arezzo and the woodlands of the Tuscanromagna Apennines. It reaches up to the Po Delta, and thereafter the Marches with the Castello di Gradara, the famous setting where the love (and tragedy) of Paolo and Francesca took place, as narrated in the
Divine Comedy Canto V of the “Inferno” (Hell). Between the legends and questions about the meaning of his works, life and even about his true appearance, Dante is the one artist who continues to preserve his value and mystery intact; starting with his long and straight nose – which was perhaps not so hooked as the Renaissance iconography depicted it to be.
A Dante who was part of the Florentine elite and who lived at the time of Florence’s economic and financial power, who was then forced into exile. According to historians he was a moralist and a man of compromise and contradictions, father to the Italian language, poet to men’s pain and suffering. Throughout the world a timeless symbol of Italian culture.
Many initiatives have been put in place to celebrate the great Florentine poet. Among these,ravenna is hosting three major exhibitions with the project Dante. Gli occhi e la mente (“Dante.the eyes and the mind”).
Many initiatives have been put in place to celebrate the great Florentine poet. Among these, Ravenna is hosting three major exhibitions with the project Dante. Gli occhi e la mente (“Dante. The eyes and the mind”).
News and virtual tour on “www.mar.ra.it, www. classense.ra.it, www.vivadante.it”. Florence’s city councilor for culture, Tommaso Sacchi, announced a program rich in events and exhibitions, to give a 360-degree idea of “what Dante represented and continues to represent today,” though many initiatives will also take place in Verona, where the artist wrote the cantica “Paradiso.” In Rome, the website of the Quirinale (Quirinal Palace) will be hosting the virtual photographic exhibition “Dante 700,” a portrait of the poet and the places in the photos of Massimo Sestini. Also online is 700dantefirenze. it, a portal showing all the events that have been scheduled by more than thirty Florentine institutions which have come together forming a joint committee. A shared project of forty-one Italian cultural development festivals “Piazza Dante. #Festivalinrete.” From north to south along our beautiful peninsula, a geographical and cultural journey testifies to the love for the extraordinary work of Dante Alighieri. Setting off from Vasto, with the Festival della scienza Ad/ventura (Ad/ Ventura Science Festival), from the 25th to 31st of January, and then Rome, Lamezia Terme, Milan, up until Milan’s “Bookcity” in November and “Scrittorincittà” in Cuneo.
A virtual square will be available at a dedicated website where the festivals’ multimedia contents on fiction and poetry, scientific, non-fiction, cultural journalism and costume will be gathered, and these will include videos and interviews with authors, as well as unpublished writings. Open discussions on Dante’s work by writers, scientists, intellectuals, scholars, artists and musicians will take place, with reference to contemporaneity, as to its various forms of declension.
Grand tour with Dante to renew our humanity during these difficult times which require courage and new visions to find the way back to each other. A message of hope by way of universal verses; on a journey of hope.
“And thence we came forth to see again the stars,” recuperating the course from Dante’s firmament so as not to lose our way and get lost in the “great sea of being.” As Pope Francis said on the occasion of the Epiphany, “Seeing the star is the starting point.” “We must keep our gaze on what is above.” And again, “Do we still know how to look up to the sky?”.