Aboard Dante's Train, the historic convoy from Florence to Ravenna that passes through the poet's villages

On the occasion of the seven hundredth anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death, the Fondazione Fs Italiane has provided a historic train that will connect Florence to Ravenna with a slow route that will pass through and stop in the villages on the Faenza line that inspired the Supreme Poet. Borgo San Lorenzo, Marradi, Brisighella and Faenza, these are the four intermediate stops on Dante’s Train.

The train will be inaugurated on June 26, 2021, and passengers will be able to board it every Saturday and Sunday from July 3 to October 10, with the exception of August 7 and 8 for maintenance work on the line, for a total of 28 days in all. The first symbolic trip is scheduled for Sunday, June 6, departing at 2:30 p.m. from Florence station. For the occasion, maestro Riccardo Muti will travel on Dante’s Train, which will stop in Marradi and conduct the ’Luigi Cherubini’ Orchestra; the train will welcome all the orchestras then continue on to Ravenna, arriving in the evening at 8 pm.

The experimental project of Dante’s Train, financed with 420,000 euros of regional resources from Emilia Romagna and developed by Apt Servizi with Toscana Promozione Turistica, was presented by Regional Tourism Councillor Andrea Corsini. Also present were the director of Lonely Planet Italy, Angelo Pittro, and the director of Fer, Stefano Masola.

Rides are scheduled to depart around 9 a.m. from Florence Santa Maria Novella station with arrival at Ravenna’s central station in the late morning and return to the Florentine capital at around 6 p.m. Four stops are planned on the round-trip route: two in Tuscan territory(Borgo San Lorenzo and Marradi) and two in Romagna territory(Brisighella and Faenza), during which travelers can get off to visit the villages, castles and hills that are part of the ’Dante’s Lands’ literary park. The convoy is a historic vehicle with tourist purposes, consisting of three ’centoporte’ cars, a baggage car equipped to transport bicycles, and a historic D445 locomotive. It has 234 total seats but, in line with Covid-19 risk containment provisions, will travel at 50% reduced capacity.

The itinerary includes, starting from Florence, Dante’s birthplace, Vaglia, the first town in Mugello, and then reaching the first stop in Borgo San Lorenzo. It will continue to Ronta, Scarperia and San Piero a Sieve, two towns that have always been united and dominated by the de Medici family, to continue on to the hills of Vicchio, the birthplace of Giotto and Beato Angelico. Past Crespino del Lamone, the train continues and stops in Marradi, the Apennine town where poet Dino Campana was born, and then stops in Brisighella, among the most beautiful villages in Italy. The next stop will be Faenza, world famous for ceramics, and finally Ravenna, the Romagna city of mosaics where the Supreme Poet completed the Divine Comedy and spent the last years of his life until his death in 1321.

Aboard Dante's Train, the historic convoy from Florence to Ravenna that passes through the poet's villages

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