Dante’s Inferno took life in this city, and became a thriller thanks to Dan Brown. The Badia Fiorentina, a painting in the Salone dei Cinquecento (“1500s hall”), a funeral mask, and a map: Florence is the stage. Those who explore the Boboli Gardens after having read the novel will certainly look for the Buontalenti cave. Everyone stops before the Gates of Paradise, but only few know that the Baptistery withholds an extremely important symbol of the city’s history: the baptismal font. Some are charmed by the fascination of Ponte Vecchio; some fantasize on the structure built over it. The most curious will visit the church of Santa Maria dei Cerchi (Virgin Mary of the circles), the place where lovers sigh. One stay may not be enough to visit all the locations mentioned in Inferno… but if you get hungry throughout the search, perhaps you should taste the traditional lampredotto (a heavenly cow stomach sandwich), also quoted in the book, or perhaps try the schiacciate at the Antico Vinaio wine bar, a temptation that even the director Ron Howard failed to resist.
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