Sanatorio Dubini, Former sanatorium in Caltanissetta, Italy.
Sanatorio Dubini is a former sanatorium on the Sant'Elia hill in Caltanissetta, built as a "Tipo Nord" prototype with rear verandas. It has three above-ground floors plus a basement, covers 25,040 m², and sits at 761 m above sea level within a 119,700 m² park.
Named after the Milanese dermatologist Angelo Dubini, who identified the Ancylostoma duodenale in 1838, the sanatorium was inaugurated on 28 October 1933 by Roberto Roberti, president of the Istituto Nazionale Fascista di Previdenza Sociale, standing in for Giuseppe Bottai. It was one of the first two sanatorium prototypes built in Sicily, after the "Tipo Nord" and "Tipo Sud" designs, and around 60 such hospitals rose nationwide within a decade. In August 1937 Benito Mussolini visited it.
The building follows the "Tipo Nord" sanatorium prototype, with verandas on the rear side relative to the main entrance; Caltanissetta and Syracuse were the first two such prototypes built in Sicily. The name honours the Milanese dermatologist Angelo Dubini, who discovered the hookworm Ancylostoma duodenale in 1838. The park, over 4 hectares within the larger Parco Testasecca, reopened to the public in May 2017 and again after redevelopment in July 2020.
The building stands at 761 m above sea level on the Sant'Elia hill, along the SS122 between Caltanissetta and San Cataldo, in contrada Babaurra. The annexed park, over 4 hectares within the larger Parco Testasecca, reopened to the public in May 2017 and was made usable again after works completed in July 2020; in 2026 it was closed to citizens once more. The structure itself is only partially recovered, housing a 118 emergency operations centre.
Benito Mussolini visited the sanatorium in August 1937 and praised its modernity, comparing it to similar hospitals in Vialba, Syracuse, Imola, Imperia, Genoa and Rome. The building is named after Angelo Dubini, the Milanese dermatologist who identified the hookworm Ancylostoma duodenale in 1838.
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