Literaly journey in the Tuscia of Divine Comedy. – In the field of Odeporic geography, many scholars have commented on the theme of the journey linked to the name of Dante Alighieri (Cavalieri, 2015; Ferroni, 2015) and as Ferroni (2015) claims we might consider conferring on Dante the competence of geographer. In fact, it is sufficient to read the descriptions of the various Italian places (which he directly or indirectly knows) and their physical-geographical aspects to understand, through a real journey in the Dantesque era, the characteristics of the landscape within which the Comedy is narrated. Through an in-depth reading of the cantos, the goal of this paper is to propose a Dantean itinerary in Tuscia, tracing places, symbols and images. The methodological analysis also included an online survey to verify the existence of similar proposals and a search to examine the feasibility of the itinerary. To achieve this result, ISTAT data (2019-2021) on the tourist movement in the area were also collected. The stages of the proposed itinerary, therefore, concern the historic center of Viterbo and the Urban Park of Bullicame, Bolsena and Bagnoregio.

Natural images of Dante’s underworld. – Dante Alighieri’s ability to represent the reality of the afterlife is known. The effectiveness of this representation is entrusted by the author to the use of similitudes. The main goal of this research is to underline how the similitudes used by Dante refer mostly to the natural world and how the author constructs the infernal geography through physical and concrete data of an experiential world to which every man can refer to. This attitude of Dante to “speak in images” (visibil parlare), then, is investigated as the main cause that has allowed and inspired so many successive transcodes from literature to the visual arts.

Tutti i paesi hanno un loro poeta o romanziere nazionale: William Shakespeare in Inghilterra, Miguel de Cervantes in Spagna, ma credo che nessuno di questi abbia nella storia culturale e civile della propria nazione un rilievo e uno spazio pari a quelli che Dante Alighieri ha nella storia letteraria e civile italiana.

Reasons and topics of a conference. – The introductory text illustrates the project of the Conference within the framework of the celebrations for the seventh centenary of Dante Alighieri’s death and it underlines its interdisciplinary nature. The debate between Geographers and Italianists, focused on the reinterpretation of Paolo Revelli’s work – L’Italia nella Divina Commedia – has deepened the topic of geographic realism in the poem, the author’s political vision, the current tourist interest for the places of Dante. It is thus led a cross-reading of the essays that compose the Proceedings of the conference.

The places of the comedy along the via Casilina. – This contribution begins with a re-reading and re-interpretation of the Divina Commedia from a geographical perspective. Operation useful for capturing symbols and signs that still manifest themselves today in those places mentioned, in the Commedy. These places, located along the via Casilina, if put into a system, outline a potential itinerary dedicated to the figure of Dante Alighieri, representing a piece of the mosaic of routes that structure the network of routes in the territory of the Lazio sub-apennines (via Francigena in southern Italy, way of st. Thomas, food and wine itineraries of the cesanese lands, path of the parks, etc.).

Dante, Celestino and the Forgiveness: from the Comedy to a destination branding. – Despite references to Celestino V on the Divine Comedy are not clear, the lives of Dante Alighieri and the Pope are certainly intertwined. Dante’s expectations on a spiritual renewal of the Roman Church, disappointed by Celestino’s resignation, seem to find acknowledgment today in a series of actions devoted to promoting his main bequest, the Forgiveness, a new territorial brand that is also serving the purpose to help the territory of L’Aquila recover from the 2009 earthquake, especially in trying to fostering a tourism development around Celestino’s figure.