Fatebenefratelli Hospital - Roma, Italy - Hospitals on Waymarking.com

The origins of the hospital on the Tiber Island date to before 1000 CE, when an ancient temple dedicated to the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius, was replaced by a sanctuary dedicated to Bartholomew the Apostle. The sanctuary provided aid for local populations of beggars, the poor, and the sick. During the mid-sixteenth century, begging was banned in Rome and the shelter was converted into a fabbriche della salute ("health factory").

In 1539 Saint John of God founded the religious institute, the Brothers Hospital, in Granada, Spain. The institute was recognized in 1572 by Pope Pius V and was nicknamed "Fatebenefratelli", a phrase used by the saints while inviting passersby to do charity. The epithet means "You do well, brothers, [for God's sake]". In 1581, the Brothers Hospital founded a new hospital called "Casa degli Orfanelli" ("House of Orphans") in Piazza di Pietra, with around 20 beds. Two members of the institute, Brother Pietro Soriano and Brother Sebastiano Arias, moved to the Tiber Island. In 1585, the institute purchased a monastery on the island with the help of Pope Gregory XIII; the monastery had previously been occupied by the Benedictine Sisters until 1573 and later by the Brotherhood of the Bolognese. The pontiff also granted them the adjoining church of St. John Calybita.

Fifteen saints settled on Tiber Island and introduced health care measures. During the 1656–57 plague outbreaks in Rome, the hospital specialized in the treatment of plague patients and formed a school to teach its staff to deal with epidemics. The hospital was recognized by the Special Commission of Health during the 1832 cholera outbreaks in Rome.

Eight years after the capture of Rome in 1870, the hospital management was dissolved in 1878. Three individuals bought the hospital for "private industry and interest". These three "mysterious" people were three friars who acted as buyers in disguise to elude the law still in force against possessing the work of religious hospitals. In 1892, the old management of the hospital was restored. During the nineteenth century, the hospital was strengthened against the floods of the Tiber River with the erection of surrounding walls. This construction was interrupted by World War I and resumed in 1922. The hospital added ophthalmology and fluoroscopy units, considered the first of their kind in Rome.

The hospital is known for having sheltered about a hundred Roman Jews during the Holocaust by diagnosing them with a fictitious malignant epidemic disease called "Syndrome K".

Our first 2 photos were taken from the Fabricius bridge. The last three pictures show the cloister of the hospital, with arcades on all four sides. To the left of the San Giovanni Calibita facade, the large door leads to an alley that runs down the left side of the church to the cloister.

Source: Wikipedia (visit link)

Address: Via di Ponte Quattro capi, 39, Rome, Italy 00186 Website: [Web Link] Rate this facility:

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