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The Former Hospital of St John Evangelist in Caprarola: From Hospital Ward to Retirement Home
The former Hospital of San Giovanni Evangelista is located in Caprarola, in the province of Viterbo. The Confraternity of the Cross and Discipline built it between 1495 and 1497, with the support of the Riario family, on the site of a small church dedicated to St John the Evangelist — from which it takes its name.
The structure and its transformations
The building is laid out over two floors: a ward for men on the first, for women on the second. The hospital staff consisted of two chaplains, a surgeon, a male nurse and a female nurse. When Vignola began the urban renovation and construction of Palazzo Farnese, the hospital was also part of the works. A receipt from 1572 documents the payment of approximately 1,000 scudi to the master builder "Scarpapede." After Vignola's death, Giovanni Antonio Garzoni redesigned the interiors and replaced the spiral staircase with a ramp.
Hidden frescoes and later lives
In the chapel, behind the single altar, a fresco was discovered beneath a 17th-century canvas painted on both sides. In the main hall are two late-16th-century frescoes: a Crucifixion and a Pietà, similar to the one Federico Zuccari painted in Palazzo Farnese. The hospital also ran a Monte di Pietà (a charitable bank) and a nursery school, and remained active until the creation of Local Healthcare Units. In 1979, after the Confraternity was dissolved, the Municipality used it as a rehabilitation centre for the disabled until 1990. Following its restoration (1992–1999), it became a retirement home.
