The Pilgrims' Hospice

The Pilgrims' Hospice is the guesthouse within the abbey where William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk are lodged upon their arrival. It serves as their base of operations throughout the investigation, a space where key conversations occur, evidence is examined, and the two protagonists retreat to rest and reflect between the abbey's increasingly violent events. Located to the right of the church, sheltering in its lee, and reached after crossing a handsome flower garden, the hospice is part of a cluster of buildings that also includes the dormitory and the abbot's house. The cellarer, Remigio of Varagine, leads the visitors there, assigning William a cell and promising Adso one of his own by the next day; for the first night, Adso sleeps in a long, wide niche in the wall of William's cell, where fresh straw has been prepared. The monks bring wine, cheese, olives, bread, and raisins for their refreshment, and William, who does not share the austere habits of the Benedictines, eats and drinks heartily, speaking of good and wise things as if a monk were reading the lives of the saints aloud.

Lodging and Daily Life

The hospice provides the physical setting for several of the novel's most important private exchanges. It is here that Abbot Abo first visits William, congratulating him on his acumen in the matter of the horse Brunellus and revealing the death of Adelmo of Otranto, thereby initiating the investigation. Adso, curled up in his niche and mistaken for a bundle, overhears this entire conversation, learning of the abbot's fears about suicide or murder and of the strict prohibition against entering the library. Later, William and Adso retreat to the hospice to rest between inquiries, and it is in his cell that William deciphers Venantius of Salvemec's zodiacal code, producing the cryptic message "Secretum finis Africae manus supra idolum age primum et septimum de quatuor." The cell also serves as a place of recovery: after Adso's terrifying encounter with the vision-inducing herbs in the library, William carries him back and revives him, and after the discovery of Berengar of Arundel's drowned body, William withdraws there to read Venantius's Greek notes with his newly recovered lenses.

A Place of Confession and Reflection

The hospice becomes a site of emotional and spiritual crisis. After his sexual encounter with the peasant girl in the kitchen, Adso, overwhelmed with remorse, finds William there and asks him to administer the sacrament of confession. William hears him out with indulgence, absolves him, and offers a measured reflection on the nature of sin and temptation, advising Adso to go to church to calm his spirit. Later, as the investigation reaches its climax, William lies on his pallet in a state of total inactivity, staring into the void and chewing on herbs, a moment of intense mental concentration that precedes his final breakthrough. The hospice is also where the two protagonists prepare for their nocturnal expeditions, procuring lamps and oil, and where they return after their harrowing journeys through the labyrinth to rest and plan their next moves.

The Final Night

On the night of the great fire, as the abbey burns, William rushes to the pilgrims' hospice to save his most precious belongings, including his traveling sack and Adso's. He retrieves them just before the flames spread to the building itself. The hospice, like the rest of the abbey, is ultimately consumed by the conflagration, its destruction marking the final collapse of the community and the end of William and Adso's stay. The building thus stands as a symbol of the fragile sanctuary that the abbey initially offered, a space that is progressively violated by the violence and chaos that engulf the entire monastery.