Pisa Museo Aperto

Luogo

The hospital which is annexed to the church of St. Martin and St. Frediano is the oldest recorded hospital in Pisa. Both the church and the hospital are first mentioned in a charter of 1061, a donation by the Pisan citizen Bello son of the late Domenico, who donated one of his properties to to become a hospital for the poor. This property was located in the heart of the medieval city in the “Quartieri di Mezzo” next to the San Frediano church. The hospital is also mentioned in later documents: “the hospital for the poor and pilgrims founded in the city of Pisa near the church of San Martino and San Frediano”. As was common place in the Middle Ages both the church and the hospital were part-founded by the church and noble families such as the Sismondi and Azzi families.

The San Frediano monastery was erected next to the hospital, between 1076 and 1095. This monastery belonged to the Congregation of the Eremo di Camaldoli which already controlled one of most important monasteries in Pisa San Michele in Borgo.
Accomodation facilities offered by the Pisan hospitals, are described in documents from 1305. Here Priest Giovanni states that the hospital of San Frediano has “twenty beds ready use” Although, it is unclear exactly when the hospital was closed, records show that by the 15th century it was in bad condition.