Taceant colloquia; effugiat risus. Hic locus est ubi mors...

[Akela]

I made a trip to the Vancouver Police Museum in my city, which is housed in a former police building. In the autopsy room (which, once upon a time, was an actual autopsy room), there was this sign over the door:

Taceant colloquia; effugiat risus. Hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae.

Apparently this was the standard inscription in autopsy rooms in the Western world. I am not quite sure what they meant by that, North America and Europe or only North America.

It does seem strange to use such a grim inscription. After all, human beings get accustomed to anything. It is rather unlikely that one could maintain consistently solemn attitude, even if it is in the morgue.

 

[Decimvs]

Awesome post! Thanks for sharing, Akela.

 

[Cambrinus]

The last part is a perfect hexameter. The original seems to be at Padua (the world's oldest university). See:
http://pensierolibre.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/hic-est-locus-ubi-mors-gaudet.html

 

[Meg]

The last part is a perfect hexameter. The original seems to be at Padua (the world's oldest university). See:
http://pensierolibre.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/hic-est-locus-ubi-mors-gaudet.html

I can't comment on the latin details, but Padua is not the world's oldest university. Bologna is, founded in 1088. The photo may be the correct one (I haven't been there, but I have been to Bologna's anatomy theater, and that is not it). I read the history on the U of Padova's website, and it was interesting that a group from Bologna went to Padova to start it up, in 1222. What Padua has, as the oldest, is the permanent anatomical theatre.

 

[Laurentius]

The translation in the pic seems a bit weird to me.

 

[Cambrinus]

Apologies, Meg; I added the word university unthinkingly.

As for the translation, the first part seems tongue-in-cheek to me (medics the world over have a peculiar sense of humour); the second part is this is the place where death is happy to come to the aid of life (sc. paradox and irony).

 

[Laurentius]

Also I heard that the oldest university is in Egypt, if you consider it an university back then, Idk well.