Wending Through the Wonders of the Ospedale Civile

I'm generally not fond of doctor's appointments, but when your appointment is at the Ospedale Civile there are certain consolations to be found, or stumbled upon, as the case may be, as you wander through grand spaces once belonging to the Scuola Grande di San Marco and, above, the Mendicanti.

The Mendicanti were "one of the most important charitable institutions of early modern Venice" and their church of San Lazzaro, fronting the Rio dei Mendicanti (between the campo of SS Giovanni and Paolo and Fondamente Nove), is worth a visit--on the rare occasions it's open.

The church of the Mendicanti became renowned for its girls choir (Vivaldi's father was an instructor), but their primary mission was caring for lepers, as well as, it seems, the indigent.

These days, fortunately, one need not be in such bad shape to find oneself wandering its halls looking for the right department.

It's easy to lose one's way in any large hospital complex--but it's even easier when there are distracting stairways like the above whose allure is hard to resist

By the time I ended up in this hallway I was quite lost--but I can't say I regretted being so 

Inlaid stone stairwell landing (just visible in the first two images of this post)