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The Ospedale Santa Maria Nuova was founded in 1237 by Folco Portinari, a physician and the father of Dante’s Beatrice. By the fourteenth century, it was famous for its botanical garden. In 1688, the hospital opened a spedalleto for lunatics. Called the Pazzaria, it was mainly populated by male paupers who could not be admitted to the nearby Ospedale Santa Dorotea, popularly called the Pazzarelli. From 1729, women were also admitted to the Pazzaria. In 1780, all the psychiatric patients were transferred to the Ospedale di Bonifazio.
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