Ville Sbertoli

Ville Sbertoli (also known as Casa di salute Sbertoli) was a lunatic asylum in Pistoia, Italy. The original structure was built in the 17th century. In 1868, it was bought by Agostino Sbertoli, who wanted to create a health facility for wealthy families. After serving as a political prison during World War II, it was transformed into a public psychiatric hospital in 1951. The complex was later abandoned. Ville Sbertoli is located in the park on Via Collegigliato in Pistoia, Italy. The entrance gate faces a small street called Via Solitaria. Villa Franchini Taviani, one of the original two structures, is located on a hill on the Colle Gigliato. It can be accessed from Via di Bigiano, an avenue of cypress trees. Villa Tanzi Lugaro, the second of the two original buildings, is located on the lower part of the hill, and can be seen from the city centre. Over twenty buildings were added later, in the surrounding area. The original two buildings were built between 1600 and 1700 and consisted of the two villas: Villa Franchini Taviani and Villa Giovacchini Rosati. They were originally purchased by Agostino Sbertoli, a doctor at the San Benedetto mental hospital in Pesaro, as his private residence. Between 1868 and 1876, Sbertoli turned them into a psychiatric hospital. The first patient was admitted on March 18, 1868: a 29 year-old Florentine man suffering from epilepsy. After his admission, the hospital began to gain recognition. In a few years, patients from across Europe were treated at the hospital, prompting Sbertoli to start an expansion project (1880-1900) to accommodate more patients. The hospital grounds eventually covered and held over 20 structures, with 9 serving as villas to house patients. Patients were assigned to buildings based on their gender, social status, and the type of illness. Several famous psychiatrists worked at the hospital, including Cesare Lombroso (a professor of forensic medicine at Torino University, and the founder of criminal anthropology) and Eugenio Tanzi, the director of S.