Magistrato alla Sanità
No city in Europe has confronted the threat of epidemic with more rigor than Venice, and the permanent Magistrato alla Sanità we have established is the most sophisticated public health institution in the world — staffed by physicians, notaries, and inspectors all bound to report the first signs of contagion to a central authority. When plague appears at our borders, the Magistracy holds the power to quarantine arriving ships in the lagoon for forty days, a measure we call quarantina, and impose penalties on anyone who conceals sickness. This system has spared Venice from catastrophes that have emptied rival cities, and it keeps our workforce, our merchants, and our fleet healthy enough to sustain trade even as disease sweeps across the peninsula.
