Why The Italian Language Museum in Florence Needs To Be On Your Bucket List

If you’re a lover of the Italian Language, you’re going to love this museum currently in the works in Florence; the Museo della Lingua Italiana, or the Italian Language Museum. Construction of the museum began in 2021 on the 700th anniversary of the great poet Dante Alighieri’s death. More than a Florence native, Dante is referred to as the Sommo Poeta (the Supreme Poet) and Father of the Italian language for his masterpiece The Divine Comedy, considered by some to have put the written Italian language in the spotlight in the early 1300s. Though it was written 500 years before the actual birth of the nation-state that became Italy, Dante’s choice of writing his Comedy in the spoken language of Tuscany, rather than in Latin which was more common for such a high form of poetry, truly cemented the language in history. 

Located centrally in Florence, in a space that once belonged to the convent of Santa Maria Novella which overlooks Via della Scala, the ambitious new Language Museum intends to attract an international audience and appeal to all ages with its interactive features. The museum will highlight the works of Italian writers like Boccaccio, Petrarca, Ariosto, Galilei, Machiavelli, Leopardi, Manzoni, Sciascia and D’Annunzio. It will also document the history of the Italian language, from the first document known to be written in 960, la Carta di Capua, all the way to the spoken and written Italian we know today. To do this, the museum has enlisted some of the best experts of the Italian Language to aid in its creation, like Luca Serianni, professor of History of the Italian language and author of some of the most renowned Italian Grammar books. 

Although the construction on the building was delayed due to factors like the pandemic, when it does finally open its doors, you’ll know where to find it! In the meantime, you can appreciate the Italian language and learn it from the comfort of your home with the Italian Travel Phrases videos on our Youtube channel, or from our Italian Language Centre classes here in Brisbane, Enrolment due date for Semester 2 is 22 June 2022.