Report
Guislain's account of his visit to the Albergo dei Poveri, Genoa (1838)
Location: Piazzale E. Brignole 2, Genoa, Kingdom of Sardinia
Guislain wrote about his visit to the Albergo dei Poveri on page 137 of his Lettres Médicales sur l'Italie avec Quelques Renseignements sur la Suisse: Résumé d'un Voyage fait en 1838, Adressé à la Société de Médecine de Gand (F. & E. Gyselynck : Ghent 1840).
Guislain commented on the vastness of the hospital building and the beauty of its immediate surrounds. He reported that it was equipped with a large workshop, in which art classes were run for 1500 paupers and orphans, where carpets, ribbons and cotton fabrics were made.
Extract
Albergo de' Poveri est un établissement colossal, placé dans un endroit fort pittoresque, constituant un vaste atelier, où plus de quinze cents personnes, orphelins et pauvres, reçoivent une éducation artistique. On y fabrique des rubans de soie, des tapis, des étoffes de coton, etc.