Maps of the Afterlife

Dante's Paradise
The Spheres of Paradise

Dante’s Paradise consists of different ascending spheres by holiness, ultimately ending in a vision of God.

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Botticelli’s  Painting of Inferno – The Circles of Hell

The geography of Dante’s Hell, is descending circles of increasing punishment.  The bottom level is inhabited by Satan.

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Hell and Purgatory

The entrance to Purgatory is through the bottom of Hell.  Accessed by crawling over Satan.

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The Mountain of Purgatory

Dante’s Purgatory is a seven story mountain, each level focusing on purifying a different category of sin.   The Garden of Eden is at the top of the mountain where the soul ascends into Heaven.

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Peering into the celestial spheres

The Spheres of Dante’s Heaven surround the Earth, Hell, and Purgatory.  The Spheres are based on Ptolemy’s geocentric model of the Universe.