Santa Margherita

The church of Santa Margherita dei Cerchi (or “Dante’s church”) is located very close to the Casa di Dante, just across the little piazza and a few steps to the north. Though dedicated to the virgin saint Margaret of Antioch, the rest of its name actually refers to the Cerchi family who became the church’s patrons in 1353. The date of its original construction is unknown, but there are references to the church in a notarial document that is dated 1032.

Many people call it “Dante’s church” because of its proximity to Dante’s home and to its claim as the very place where Dante first set eyes on Beatrice, as he recounts in the Vita nova. However, neither the church where Dante fell in love with Beatrice nor the one in which he married Gemma Donati has been definitively identified. The other two principal candidates are the Badia and the San Martino del Vescovo. The Latin marker on the outside wall of Santa Margherita is a little more nuanced in its claim: “The divine poet, eternal glory of his people and proponent of national unity, prayed here. He sang of faith in the deity and exalted the Virgin Mother.”

Inside the church, you’ll find a sort of shrine to Dante and Beatrice. Several pieces of Dante-inspired art hang from the walls, but one of the best must be this one:

What makes it so interesting is its subtitle: “Dante and Beatrice receive the blessing of Prior Roberto Tassi.” If you believe that the third figure in the painting, the one who looks like Franco Citti, is Roberto Tassi, you’re wrong.

In reality, the good father is very much still alive, and there is a marker elsewhere on the wall that attests to his participation in celebrating the 700th anniversary of Beatrice’s death here in 1991.

The church now serves as a sort of museum to the unconsummated love affair of Dante and Beatrice. To your left, as you walk in, you’ll see a tombstone. The plaque above it reads: “Beneath this altar, Folco Portinari constructed his family tomb. On June 8, 1291, Beatrice was buried here.” And in larger, eye-catching characters: “Tombstone of Beatrice Portinari.”

Above: the so-called “Tomb of Beatrice Portinari”

Dante’s Beatrice has a tombstone here but she was certainly buried elsewhere. However, Beatrice did belong to the very old Portinari family who were the patrons of this church at the end of the 1200s. Having married Simone de’ Bardi in 1287, however, she would likely have been buried with his family’s tombs, which are in Santa Croce. This is the same Bardi family who went on to establish an enormous bank and to suffer a similarly enormous bankruptcy in 1345.

Near Beatrice’s supposed tombstone you can find a basket in which people leave her notes, seeking her help in troubled love affairs almost as if she were a saint. You can do it too, but be sure to leave a few coins to sustain this monument to Dante’s muse.

Along the opposite wall is another apocryphal tomb (below). The markers read: “Tombstone of Monna Tessa, nursemaid of Beatrice P.” and “Monna Tessa, inspirer of Folco Portinari, founder of the Hospitaler Oblates of Santa Maria Nuova. Died July 3, 1327.” Monna Tessa was Beatrice’s nursemaid, but it would also be accurate to call her Beatrice’s chaperone. This slab is a reproduction of the real one, which you can find in the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova.

Coat of arms of the Portinari family