# The Pio Monte and Thermal Care for the Poor **At a glance:** The Pio Monte della Misericordia, a Neapolitan charity founded in 1602, opened a hospice in Casamicciola from 1604 where the sick poor received thermal treatment, board and lodging free of charge. After 1883 it left Piazza Bagni and was reborn on the seafront, where the new complex opened in 1895. Since 2025 the complex has belonged to the Municipality. ## Useful information - **Type:** History of spa culture - **Address:** Corso Luigi Manzi, 80074 Casamicciola Terme NA - **Period:** From the 17th century - **Coordinates:** 40.748498, 13.911518 - **Period:** From 1604 to the 1970s - **Original site:** Piazza Bagni, beside the Gurgitello spring - **Site from 1895:** Seafront, Corso Luigi Manzi - **Care provided:** Free thermal treatment, board and lodging for the sick poor - **Today:** Owned by the Municipality of Casamicciola Terme since 17 September 2025, awaiting restoration ## A work of mercy born in Naples The Pio Monte della Misericordia was founded in Naples on 19 April 1602 by seven young noblemen determined to carry out the seven corporal works of mercy at their own expense. It is the same institution that in 1607 commissioned Caravaggio's famous painting _The Seven Works of Mercy_, still in its headquarters on Via dei Tribunali. One of those works was caring for the sick, and it was this commitment that brought the institution to Casamicciola. ## The hospice in Piazza Bagni In January 1604 some of the governors, accompanied by the physician Giulio Iasolino and by architects and master builders, came to the island to choose the site. On 19 February 1604 the governor Carlo Caracciolo di Vico formally proposed founding a hospice for the sick poor; the choice fell on a place called Casa Barbera, near the Gurgitello spring. In 1605 the institution bought the land, and in July the first season of treatment was held for 25 patients; the house was completed in 1606. A bequest received that same year made it possible to enlarge it according to the 1610 design by the Theatine architect Francesco Grimaldi. Over the next two centuries the hospice grew steadily, with new wards, dormitories and a loggia overlooking the sea. In 1741 it took in more than four hundred patients, and between 1778 and 1785 the engineer Giuseppe Pollio designed a new sweat room and new baths with eighty cubicles. A plaque now on the façade of the complex recalls the hospice “the first opened in Europe” in 1604. The model of care was simple and generous: the poor were offered treatment, board and lodging free of charge for a course of cure (the sources speak of fifteen or twenty days). ## Rebirth by the sea After 1883 the Pio Monte decided to rebuild the hospice in a new place, on the coast. The new complex, designed by the engineer Giuseppe Florio using modern building methods, opened in 1895. It was considered one of the largest in Europe: across some 25,000 square metres it comprised twelve dormitories, two bathing halls with eighty tubs, refectories, gardens, two pinewoods and a chapel. Next to it the institution also built a nursery school, now the Santa Maria della Provvidenza institute. ## Abandonment and rebirth For around eighty years the hospice provided free treatment to a great many sick poor. Between the late 1960s and the early 1970s activity ceased, and the complex, listed as cultural heritage in 1990, fell into long neglect. On 17 September 2025, with its purchase, the complex became the property of the Municipality of Casamicciola Terme. The plan is to house schools, public services and cultural spaces there and to restore the Gurgitello spring. The page on the [Pio Monte della Misericordia complex](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/thermal-spas/pio-monte-della-misericordia-complex/) describes the building. ## Where it is The 19th-century complex stands on the seafront, on Corso Luigi Manzi, just beyond [Piazza Marina](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/key-places/piazza-marina/), and is clearly visible as you arrive by ferry. The original site of the hospice is in [Piazza Bagni](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/key-places/piazza-bagni/), beside the [Gurgitello spring](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/thermal-spas/gurgitello-spring/), where the story told in [History of the Gurgitello](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/history/history-of-the-gurgitello/) begins. ## Frequently asked questions ### What was the Pio Monte della Misericordia in Casamicciola? It was the thermal hospice founded from 1604 by the Neapolitan charitable institution of the same name. It offered the sick poor free treatment with Gurgitello water, board and lodging. ### Why is the Pio Monte building on the seafront? The original hospice stood in Piazza Bagni, by the Gurgitello. After 1883 the institution rebuilt it on the coast, and the new complex opened in 1895. ### Can you visit the Pio Monte? The complex has been closed to the public for decades and is in poor condition. Since September 2025 it has been owned by the Municipality, which plans to restore it. ### What is the Pio Monte's link with Caravaggio? The Pio Monte della Misericordia of Naples, which founded the Casamicciola hospice, commissioned The Seven Works of Mercy from Caravaggio in 1607. The painting is still in the institution's Naples headquarters. ## Also worth seeing - [Pio Monte della Misericordia Complex](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/thermal-spas/pio-monte-della-misericordia-complex/) - [Piazza Bagni](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/key-places/piazza-bagni/) - [Piazza Marina](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/key-places/piazza-marina/) - [Gurgitello Spring](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/thermal-spas/gurgitello-spring/) - [The Origins of Thermal Cures in Casamicciola](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/history/origins-of-thermal-cures/) - [History of the Gurgitello](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/history/history-of-the-gurgitello/) - [The Rebirth of the Spa Tradition after 1883](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/history/rebuilding-the-spa-tradition-after-1883/) - [Casamicciola after 1883: the rebirth](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/history/casamicciola-after-1883/) - [History of Casamicciola](https://visitcasamicciola.com/en/history/) ## Sources and further reading - [Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali (SIGEC) – Ospizio termale del Pio Monte della Misericordia](https://sigecweb.beniculturali.it/sigec/item/print/ICCD14905378) - [M. Esposito, Il termalismo a Ischia in epoca moderna e l'Ospizio del Pio Monte della Misericordia di Casamicciola, Storia dell'Urbanistica, Speciale 3/2024](https://edizionicaracol.it/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/6.-ESPOSITO.pdf) - [Ministero della Cultura, Beni abbandonati – Complesso Pio Monte della Misericordia "Ex Terme Gurgitello"](https://beniabbandonati.cultura.gov.it/beni/complesso-pio-monte-della-misericordia-ex-terme-gurgitello/) - [Italia Nostra – Ospizio del Pio Monte della Misericordia a Casamicciola Terme](https://www.italianostra.org/beni-culturali/ospizio-del-pio-monte-della-misericordia-a-casamicciola-terme-na/) - [Commissario straordinario per la ricostruzione di Ischia – Il Pio Monte è patrimonio di Casamicciola (17/09/2025)](https://sismaischia.it/2025/09/17/il-pio-monte-e-patrimonio-di-casamicciola-un-passaggio-storico-per-la-comunita/) - [Wikipedia – Pio Monte della Misericordia](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pio_Monte_della_Misericordia) - [F. Capano, Il terremoto di Casamicciola del 1883: norme antisismiche e cupole tra storia e struttura, 'Ananke 91, 2020](https://www.iris.unina.it/retrieve/e268a733-c812-4c8f-e053-1705fe0a812c/4_ART_CA_2020_CapanoF_CasamicciolaTerremoto_'ANANKE91.pdf) - [Wikipedia – Casamicciola Terme](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casamicciola_Terme)