"Between two shores of Italy rise cliffs,
And not far distant from thy native place,
So high, the thunders far below them sound,

And form a ridge that Catria is called,
'Neath which is consecrate a hermitage
Wont to be dedicate to worship only."

Dante Alighieri Paradiso XXI


So I got me to a nunnery...

This is the Monastery of Fonte Avellana. I used to live along the road that goes to the monastery, but I didn't take any pictures of that *shudder*

The original monastery dates back to 980, when it was built on "that bloody mountain".
Apparently, Dante stayed here for quite some time, which is why it gets a mention. I still say that it was here he got the idea for his "Inferno".

There is a library of 8,000 volumes on Dante, but you can only see in from the doorway. There is a library of 35,000 other books, dating back to the beginning of print and perhaps even before, but no one is allowed to visit those: they are in the private area where the monks live. All nine of them.

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