Ospedale Maggiore

The Ospedale Maggiore, traditionally named Ca' Granda (i.e. Big House), is a building in the center of Milan, northern Italy, constructed to house one of the first community hospitals, the largest such undertaking of the fifteenth century. Commissioned by Francesco Sforza in 1456 and designed by Antonio Filarete it is among the first examples of Renaissance architecture in Lombardy.

Some of the relics of its long-established medical and sanitary history can still be found in the original buildings of the Ospedale Maggiore, that today host the University of Milan.

History

In 1456, the Duke of Milan Francesco Sforza founded the Magna Domus Hospitalis (Ca' Granda), a hospital dedicated to Annunciata (a municipality of the province of Brescia, Northern Italy). He did this primarily to gain the affection of its people who were followers of the Visconti family of Milan, even though the Duke was married to Bianca Maria Visconti at the time.

The Duke, entering Milan victorious on 25 March 1450 (the day of Annunciation), decided to dedicate a charitable institution to Annunciata. It was then that the new foundation became the Spedale della Nunciata. Designed by the renowned architect Filarete and built by the engineer Guiniforte Solari (responsible for the courtyard of the Certosa di Pavia, a monastery complex in Lombardy, Northern Italy), the hospital formed part of the completion of the reform of hospitals started by the Archbishop Rampini, in the years of the Golden Ambrosian Republic.