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Walking Tours of Rome

Unwanted Babies

4/7/2019

 
Walking Tours of Rome
La Ruota degli Esposti, Ospedale di Santo Spirito, Rome
The Ruota degli Esposti

Outside the Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia, an ancient hospital which lies a stone's throw from the Vatican, is the Ruota degli Esposti (Wheel of the Exposed), evidence of a practise that was once all too prevalent in Rome.
​
Protected by an ornate wrought-iron grill, the wooden wheel was the place where, for centuries, unwanted babies were anonymously deposited. A baby was placed on the wheel, the wheel was turned and the baby was taken into the care of the hospital. 

It is thought that the first wheel was set up by the founder of the hospital, Pope Innocent III (r. 1198-1216). According to legend, the Pope kept having troubling dreams, in which he saw the corpses of babies being fished out of the river Tiber. 

Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia, Rome
Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia

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    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England.

    Since 2001 I have been living in Italy, where I run
    ​ walking tours of Florence, Rome &
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  • Private Tours
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  • Contact
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  • Vatican
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