Hospital of San Fedele

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The San Fedele Hospital, built after 1270 thanks to a substantial donation by Ranieri degli Olivi, was originally an establishment used to welcome pilgrims and travellers, which over time was then transformed into a healthcare facility.

From the statute of 1341-1342, we know that there were three hospitales in Montone: Colcello whose function was to take in people with infectious diseases such as leprosy, San Fedele which was to accommodate pilgrims, and Santa Maria Nuova for the poor.

All were governed by their respective Confraternities under the financial control of the municipality. The Hospital of San Fedele owned by the Confraternita del Gonfalone, a company of disciplined men as the 15th-century lintel above the church entrance door explains, became particularly wealthy.

In 1518, Pope Leo X merged the three hospitals and ordered that the excess funds of the Confraternita del Gonfalone be spent on charitable works, in order to avoid scandal. Later, in 1571, the hospital was called upon by the apostolic visitor Paolo Maria della Rovere to provide financial assistance to the nuns of the Monastery of Santa Caterina and the convent of Sant’Agnese, who were extremely poor.

The hospital was closed following a decree issued by Bishop Lattanzi in 1757, as it had become a refuge for vagrants and criminals.

The building, which was bombed by Allied forces during the battle of July 1944, is where the municipal theatre is now based.

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