Forbidden Ground

Since the 9th century, a church had stood on Lazzaretto Island.

Beginning in the 8th century AD, Armenia had successively suffered invasions by Arabs, Byzantium, and Tatars. Some Armenians fled abroad, while others chose to become mercenaries. Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor who was the first to establish diplomatic relations with China, was Armenian.

Besides the Black Death, leprosy was also a virulent infectious disease. This church had initially served as a leper sanatorium, but as more and more people on the nearby islands contracted the Black Death, it became a sanatorium for treating Black Death patients.

The patron saint of lepers was Lazarus. The fresco above the church altar depicted Jesus calling Lazarus out of the tomb in a cave and restoring him to life. Apart from that, the church walls were covered in white plaster. There was none of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute's magnificent dome, sculptures, or chandeliers. Half the roof had collapsed, and vines had grown in through the gaps. Clearly, both the church and the island had long been abandoned.

The Benedictine Order was one of Catholicism's monastic orders. Its emblem was a cross and a plow. Besides their daily spiritual practices, its members copied ancient books and performed other work.

On either side of the church were two long cloisters, which, together with a row of cedars, formed a courtyard. The rooms here were all dormitories, where the monks had once lived. On the other side of the courtyard stood a two-story Byzantine-style building, where the quarantined patients had lived.

"You know, that stone chair actually has a legend attached to it. Whoever sits on it will get married within a year," Alessandro said stiffly. The strange, eerie atmosphere seemed to have frightened him.

"The quarantine site is on New Island. These days,