The Plate (No. 172)
Founded by Innocentius III in 1204 the hospital was thoroughly rebuilt
when Sixtus V redesigned the whole area. The view shows the street linking
S. Giovanni with the Coliseum. The Pope wanted
the street to directly link S.
Giovanni with St. Peter and ordered Domenico Fontana to pull down the
Coliseum, but Cardinal Santorio and others succeeded in persuading him
to spare the Roman ruin. The view is taken from the green dot in the 1748 map below.
In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Fountain near the Obelisk; 2) Hospital (male section); 3) Hospital (female section); 4) Anfiteatro Flavio.
1) and 4) are shown in other pages. The small map shows also 5) SS. Andrea e Bartolomeo.
Today
Apart from the usual toll to everyday life, not much has changed and
one can still see the Coliseum at the end of the long and narrow street. You can see the
fountain in Plate 34
The Hospital
The long building was the men's ward and has some elegant Baroque
elements. The coats of arms are no longer there, but the bees of Urbanus
VIII can still be seen under the balcony.
S. Giovanni is still one of the main hospitals of Rome. The old ward is now used
for receiving the public.
The medieval entrance
to the hospital (in the street leading to the Coliseum) is worth being paid attention.
SS. Andrea e Bartolomeo
Giacomo Mola, who designed the hospital, provided it with a small church which incorporated
the portal of a previous church existing on the same site. Next to the church a long portico made with
Roman columns is the ancient entrance to the hospital, which once was dedicated to S. Michele.
Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:
Chiesa di S. Andrea e Spedale per gli uomini
Due grandi spedali, uno per gli uomini, l'altro per le donne, sono uniti a quella piccola
chiesa, la quale per maggior comodo degli Infermi mantiene il ss. Sagramento.
Quello degli uomini fu eretto l'an. 1216. dal Card. Gio: Colonna, e quello per le
donne fu accresciuto da fabbriche da Alessandro VI. ed amendue stanno sotto
la cura dell'Archiconfraternita del ss. Salvatore.
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