Parco dell'ex Ospedale San Lazzaro

The park of the former San Lazzaro psychiatric hospital preserves the green grounds and pavilion landscape of a major institution in Reggio Emilia's history. The Padiglione Lombroso now houses the city's Museum of the History of Psychiatry, where the building itself forms part of the interpretation.

Why it matters

The San Lazzaro complex served as a psychiatric hospital for generations. Its pavilions and open grounds remain legible as an institutional landscape, connecting the city's history of mental health care with the present public park. The Museo di Storia della Psichiatria preserves this history within one of the former hospital's notable buildings.

What to notice

The Padiglione Lombroso was designed in 1891 by engineer Angelo Spallanzani and was first called Casino Galloni, after the hospital's first director. Its scale and position among the former hospital buildings help convey how the complex was organised. Inside the museum, preserved materials, colour schemes and patient-made graffiti contribute to the record of the institution.

Context and history

The pavilion became the Sezione Lombroso in 1910, following the 1904 law on psychiatric institutions. It was abandoned in 1972, after which the perimeter wall was demolished and the grounds opened to the city. Restoration preserved historic fabric and graffiti, and the Museum of the History of Psychiatry opened in the pavilion in 2012. The park and museum together preserve the physical setting and history of the former institution.