Manicomio Di R: Italy June 2015

Manicomio Di R is a large abandoned hospital complex in Italy. Built in 1871 several buildings spread over the twenty hectare site, which was chosen due to the central location in the province. We only explored the main building of the site which is actually larger than the Savoy Palace.

Starting life as a hospital which was run by a charity later became a military college and eventually became an asylum which had the space for 1400 patients.

During the second world war the amount of patients peaked at over 1800.

As usual in asylums of this period electro shock therapy and other inhumane forms of treatment were practiced here.

The asylum eventually closed in 1981. In Autumn of 2015 renovation work started, I am unsure of the goal of the project but I do consider this to be great news.

Alongside Maša Kores Photography and As The Light Slowly Fades this abandoned hospital was one of the main goals of the trip. It was nearly a fail, but with some intuition and determination we found ourselves inside these grand walls. We spent a fair few hours here and as you can see a large number of shots were taken. I hope you enjoy.