For nearly three centuries, the Republic of Ragusa, where modern-day Dubrovnik is centered, forced visitors to spend 40 days on the r

How A Medieval City Dealing With The Black Death Invented Quarantine

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2021-07-07 11:00:09

For nearly three centuries, the Republic of Ragusa, where modern-day Dubrovnik is centered, forced visitors to spend 40 days on the remote islands off the coast of the walled city, but in the 17th century, the city built the Lazarettos, a series of buildings immediately outside the city where visitors had to quarantine. This is the view from one of the quarantine cells. Rob Schmitz/NPR hide caption

For nearly three centuries, the Republic of Ragusa, where modern-day Dubrovnik is centered, forced visitors to spend 40 days on the remote islands off the coast of the walled city, but in the 17th century, the city built the Lazarettos, a series of buildings immediately outside the city where visitors had to quarantine. This is the view from one of the quarantine cells.

DUBROVNIK, Croatia — The first state-imposed quarantine happened here, in present-day Dubrovnik, Croatia, an ancient walled city atop the cliffs of the Adriatic Sea. The first people to ever be quarantined — more than 500 years ago — had a nice view but not-so-nice consequences if they decided they had had enough of it.

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