The "Ospedale Piemonte" in Messina (Viale Europa 45) was opened on February 15th 1911, even still incomplete, thanks to the "Comitato piemontese di soccorso", which donated 600,000 lire for building the hospital. The help of Piedmont came after the disastrous earthquake in 1908. The work was directed by Turinese engineer Pietro Gambetta and two masters of Liberty style architecture in Italy, Pietro Fenoglio and Riccardo Brayda. It was the first important public facility in Italy to be made of reinforced concrete. The first clinical director of the hospital was Salvatore Cappellani, but one of the most important people related to the history of the hospital was Ettore Castronovo, who founded in 1951 the first radiotherapy clinic of Messina inside the hospital. Since the 549th Decree of 10 February 1924, "Università degli studi di Messina", with its different clinics, became part of the hospital life: the first director of the Medical Clinic was Luigi D'Amato; Giuseppe D'Agata directed the Surgical one, while aforementioned Salvatore Cappellani directed the Obstetric Gynecological clinic; Sebastiano Cannata directed the Pediatric clinic and Erasmo Scimemi, twice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, directed the Oculistic one. In the '50s there were twelve clinics and in 1967 the first clinics were transferred to the new "Policlinico Universitario". In 1968 the entire transfer of the hospital took place.
On the facade, symbols of the cities of Turin and Messina can be seen, works of the turinese sculptor Pietro Quadri.
Inside the hospital there is a plaque with the words: "QUESTO EDIFICIO / SACRATO AL SOLLIEVO / DEGLI UMANI DOLORI / PERPETUO ATTESTATO / DI ITALICA FRATERNITA' / CIMENTATA / NELL' ORA DELLA SVENTURA / I PIEMONTESI / DECRETARONO ERESSERO / MCMVIII-MCMXIII".
There is also a statue representing the virtue of "Charity" by Nicola Francesco Maffei (17th century).
- Photos by Andrea Prestamburgo (January 2013)
- Locate the item on this Google Map
Bibliography
- N.Principato, L'ospedale "Piemonte" (1911-2011). Cento anni dalla più antica struttura ospedaliera di Messina, EDAS Editore, Messina 2011, pp.171