Ospedale Bonifacio, Historic hospital building in San Gallo Street, Florence, Italy.
Ospedale Bonifacio is a large palace building that occupies an entire city block on Via San Gallo in Florence. The structure was designed to house different medical functions and patient care areas across its layout.
Founded in 1377 by the Bonifazio Lupi family, this institution became Florence's mental hospital over centuries. Major reorganizations occurred in the late 1700s when medical care was centralized and restructured.
The hospital was documented in artwork by painter Telemaco Signorini, who captured scenes from the women's ward in his paintings. These works reflect how art engaged with the institution's social role and daily reality.
The building is visible from the street but now serves as a police headquarters and is not open to the public. You can appreciate its architectural scale and historic facade from outside, which tells much about its original significance.
In 1787, Grand Duke Peter Leopold consolidated multiple healthcare facilities into this complex to create a unified system. This reorganization was an early attempt at coordinating different types of medical care under one location.
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