The Pasquale Castiglione Morelli surgical Museum is located in Vallelonga1 (Piazza Castello), in Calabria. The museum was built to remember Pasquale Castiglione Morelli's profession and also to focus on the difficult reality of the South Italy during the 20th century; as a matter of fact, in that period places like a surgical clinic weren’t common, and it was really difficult to reach a hospital or a doctor, especially for people in economic difficulties.
The museum was built in 2010, thanks to the efforts of the surgeon’s family and of the Mayor of the town, Egidio Abdon Servello.
In the documents of that period there are more than seventy surgical procedures during each quarter, all made by Morelli and his assistants.2
First Room
The first room, is a partial reconstruction of an emergency recovery suits, where are located three original beds, of that period, with their respectively iron’s nightstand.
Furthermore, in the photo, an infusion pump is visible and really close to it there is are: a table with medical equipment and a display case containing medicines and vials used at the time such as original glass syringe.
Close to the cabinet, previously descripted, there is a gynaecological bed really similar to the one’s used nowadays.3
Second Room
A wide equipment selection is visible in the photos of the second room of the clinic. In particular, the two big machines were probably used to sterilize tools used by the surgeon.
Likewise, the previous room, there is an original cabin of the twentieth century completely made out of wood, inside which are exposed the finest facilities of the approximately five-hundreds, located in the building.4
Last Room
The last and smallest room is a historical re-enactment of a surgery room. The operating table is placed in the middle of the room and bloodstains are still clear on it.
The straps to retain the patient, placed on the bed, it’s something really unattended nowadays; the explanation is justified by the lack of painkillers of the time.
Right beside the bed there is a shelf with many utensils including gloves and spans of cloth likely used as gauzes.
The most interesting and impressive item inside the smallest room, is a cupboard containing approximatively 40 artefacts, including 8 plaster cast showing deformities of feet and faces, and well conserved hernias.
Probably these objects were preserved in order to be used for clinical trial.5
- Photos and main text by Carmen Mangino moc.liamg|32onignamnemrac#| and Anna Quattromani ti.orebil|inamorttauq_anna#| (January 2019)
- Locate the item on this Google Map
Related items
Bibliography
- Pasquale Castiglione Morelli record in Cassiodoro Centro di Documentazione di Storia della Medicina
- Antonio Gullusci (a cura di), IL MUSEO DELLA CHIRURGIA DELL'OSPEDALE DI VALLELONGA Pasquale Castiglione Morelli, Estratto degli atti del convegno del 13 Agosto 2010, Vallelonga 2011, pp.15