Photo by Kmil P. Albrecht 



THE stranger's lodgixg-house at the certosa monastery 



In its prosperous days the Certosa was visited constantly by scores of pilgrims eager 

 to pray at its shrines, to heg the good offices of its monks, or to buy the liqueurs or cordials 

 that they made. There were no inns in medieval days ; the monks must provide a lodging. 

 So within their inclosure upon the left of the great court which stretches between vestibule 

 and church — the Piazzale — they built their "Farmacia," where the cordials were made and 

 sold and the quarters where humble pilgrims could be lodged. Upon the other side of the 

 Piazzale — the right as you enter — standsthe Novices' Convent and the great Palazzo Ducale, 

 now a museum, where titled visitors were housed. 



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