In 1717 the Armenian order of the Mechitarist Fathers (named after the founding father, Mechitar) was granted use of this island, which had been the site of a Benedictine hospice for pilgrims and then served as a leper colony. The Mechitarist monastery became an important centre of learning and repository of Armenian culture, which it remains to this day. The order also runs a hostel in a frescoed former school at Palazzo Zenobio in Dorsoduro.