THE CERTOSA OF FLORENCE 
One victim of persecution and outrage, the aged 
pontiff, Pius VI, found a shelter within her hospitable 
walls, and the rooms where he resided, until he was 
dragged to die in France, are still shown. 
In 1814 the convent was restored to the monks ; 
and when later, Acts were passed for the dissolu¬ 
tion of monasteries, the Certosa was one of the few 
foundations which were spared for the sake of their 
great memories. We can pass under the gateway- 
now, through which of old no monk might issue and no 
woman enter, without the Archbishop’s permission ; 
and, climbing up the steep hillside, cross the threshold 
above which Niccolo’s lion still lifts its fleur-de-lys. 
A strange loneliness fills the spacious courts, and 
the wind blows cold up the empty corridors. Here 
and there we meet a white-robed brother, lighting 
the lamps in the church, pacing up and down the 
cloisters, or taking an evening walk among the dark 
shadows of the cypress avenues. From all we receive 
the same courteous welcome. They lead us through 
their halls and cloisters, and show us the beauties of 
their ancient home—the great central church, with 
its rich mosaic pavement and cluster of surrounding 
chapels, the crypt where the ashes of their founder 
rest, the Sfezeria , fragrant with the scent of the 
perfumes they manufacture. Their dress, their rule 
are still the same ; they are almost the only things that 
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