Day 5. Pistoia PM.

After lunch we headed off to the Spedale Del Ceppo, a former hospital, now just a blood donor's clinic. The front of the building is decorated with medallions by Della Robbia and Benedetto Buglioni.
From the 17th century the hospital was home to a medical-surgical school whose clients were the dead from the hospital and the prisons, bisected on a marble slab in the anatomical theatre.
From here we gained access to the underground tour.
As the city expanded its wall did also and the tour was along the former river Brana now diverted. Over time roads,walls and buildings were built over the river. It was interesting to learn of the city's history through the foundations.
There were two former mill wheels. One was used by the blacksmith the other by the miller.
The hospital's toilets and waste products emptied into the river where the people washed their clothes and was responsible for 2/3rds of the city dying from the Black Plague.
The excavation of the now dry river bed is an ongoing project, and knowing the Italians, I doubt if it will ever be finished.
An interesting tour and recommended.Read more