Ex-sanatorium "Pietro Grocco"

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The ex-sanatorium Pietro Grocco is located in Perugia (via della Pallotta 42).

It was built around 1932-1935 (year of the inauguration) by the “Istituto Nazionale Fascista di Previdenza Sociale”, also known as INFPS, according to the fascist national plan for the construction of local sanatoria with law no.1132 of 1928.¹

The hospital was built on the southwest side of the hill of Perugia, in an area not yet built up and ceded for the most part by the Agricultural Foundation of Perugia (3 hectares). The particular position, collocated between the historic center and the southern suburbs, was in fact considered ideal for the placement of a medical facility that involved the interests of the city and of the territory outside.²

The original sanatorium was a building of considerable size, result of a parallel research among architects and doctors on a type of architecture that would allow at most to enjoy, even in winter and dark periods, the sun and the heat, to ease the symptoms and the healing of the tuberculosis.
It could accommodate 333 rooms distributed in very large bedrooms that followed established models (6,50m x 6 m), equipped with large sliding glass doors (innovative room-veranda). Furthermore, some of the rooms in the building (generally the largest ones) were occasionally adapted for recreational activities (cinema, theater, reading, conversation).³
The main building and the smaller ones, originally used by the concierge, are placed in the middle of the surrounding park, with tall trees specifically chosen for their balsamic properties.⁴

Initially called “Pallotta”, its name changed in "Pietro Grocco" after the renowned doctor.⁵
In 1971 the hospital detached from INPS and it became a self-Hospital Corporation; on that occasion functional works started (elimination of wooden doors and windows, creation of a retractable canopy on two terraces forming a covered walkway), bringing the structure to its present form.⁶
Around 1974, the structure became part of “Riuniti Ospedali S.Maria della Misericordia – S.Nicolò degli incurabili e Pietro Grocco”, later assimilated as a ward under the name “Divisione tisio-pneumologica”.⁷
In 1986 the complex’s personnel was transferred to the new "Santa Maria della Misericordia's hospital in Sant'Andrea delle Fratte".

Nowadays, it is used for rehabilitation services and guests a rest home, “Casa dell’amicizia Seppilli”, inaugurated in 1996.⁸

Entrance (via della Pallotta, 42)