What is the name of the earthly paradise at the top of Mount Purgatory?

The story behind the answer

The earthly paradise at the top of Mount Purgatory is Eden, or the Garden of Eden.

Dante places this paradise at the summit of Mount Purgatory, after the pilgrim has climbed its seven terraces and overcome the effects of the seven deadly sins. It is not Heaven proper: it is the restored earthly garden from which humanity was expelled after Adam and Eve’s disobedience.

In Purgatorio, the garden marks the transition between purification and celestial ascent. Dante encounters the rivers Lethe and Eunoe there. Drinking from Lethe erases the memory of sin, while drinking from Eunoe restores the memory of good deeds. Beatrice then appears, and Dante prepares to rise through the heavens described in Paradiso.

Eden is sometimes confused with Elysium, Arcadia, or Avalon, but those belong to different mythological or literary traditions. Dante’s earthly paradise is specifically the biblical Garden of Eden, adapted into his Christian journey through the afterlife.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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