Ospedale San Luigi Gonzaga

The Ospedale San Luigi Gonzaga opened in 1826 as a specialized hospital for the treatment of the bronchial tubes, asthma and (later) tuberculosis. It was a huge hospital, designed by Talucchi and built in the shape of a St. Andrew's cross, with a domed central building and two relatively small triangular courtyards on either side of it. In 1853, patients with mental illness began to be transferred to Certosa di Collegno, a new facility housed in a former Carthusian monastery outside Turin. The Certosa di Collegno now houses an archive on the history of psychiatry in Turin. In 1909, the Ospedale San Luigi Gonzaga was abandoned, and a new sanatorium with 1000 beds was built elsewhere in Turin.