Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova
Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Florence. Give it roughly ~30 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type historic
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Florence Florence guide
About Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova
Europe's oldest functioning hospital, founded in 1288 by Folco Portinari (father of Dante's Beatrice), with a magnificent 15th-century portico and an extraordinary collection of Renaissance art.
The Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova is the oldest hospital in Florence and one of the oldest continuously functioning hospitals in Europe, founded in 1288 by Folco Portinari, whose daughter Bice (known as Beatrice) was the woman immortalised by Dante Alighieri in the Vita Nuova and the Divine Comedy.
The hospital was intended for the city's poor and was one of the most innovative social institutions of medieval Florence, providing free care to the sick, regardless of social status. It was built and managed by the city of Florence and became one of the wealthiest and most powerful institutions in Tuscany, acquiring an enormous art collection through bequests over the centuries.
The façade of the hospital features a magnificent late 15th-century portico attributed to Biagio d'Antonio, similar in design to Brunelleschi's Spedale degli Innocenti. The hospital church of Sant'Egidio contains important frescoes. Leonardo da Vinci performed anatomical dissections here with the hospital's permission in the late 15th century, contributing to his extraordinary anatomical drawings.
Did you know? The hospital was founded by the father of Beatrice, the woman Dante Alighieri loved and immortalised in the Divine Comedy. Folco Portinari founded Santa Maria Nuova in 1288; his daughter Beatrice was the girl Dante had first encountered as a nine-year-old around 1274.
How long is a visit to Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova?
Set aside roughly ~30 min for Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova worth your time?
Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova is among the 42 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Florence, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Florence
Hear the story of Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova
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