Database: La Rosa della Virtù

Located at the crossroads where sex and religion collide, La Rosa della Virtù (The Rose of Virtue) was run entirely by former nuns. The Pope repeatedly attempted to force the Venetian Council to shut down the brothel, but it remained open until a fire in 1516 consumed it.

Although the church tried to claim divine intervention, jurists found the fire to have been set by a disgruntled bishop who wanted to lie with one of the girls for free. Act of God indeed.