Ospedale degli Incurabili (L'Ospedaletto)

The Ospedale degli Incurabili, popularly called the Ospedaletto, was founded in 1499 by the philanthropist Ettore Vernazza, a disciple of Saint Cathérine of Genoa. It was situated opposite Ospedale Pammatone, the city’s main hospital. A separate ward for lunatics was created in 1588. From the middle of the seventeenth century, chronic patients were accommodated in Albergo di Poveri.