Rotonda della Besana

History

The building was originally established to serve as a foppone (i.e., a cemetery for the poor) for the Ospedale Maggiore (also known as the Ca' Granda, "Big House"), and hosted about 150,000 burials, placed in a complex system of catacombs (the catacombs are no longer accessible). In 1787, under Austrian rule, cemeteries were moved outside the city walls, and the Rotonda cemetery was thus dismissed. Under Napoleonic rule, plans were made to redesign the Rotonda into a famedio (i.e., a honorific burial place) along the lines of the Panthéon in Paris, but these plans were later dismissed. The Rotonda was thus adapted for a number of other uses, including as a stable and a barn. In the 19th century it was returned to the Ospedale Maggiore, which used it as a cronicario (a shelter for the chronically sick) and a laundry building. The Ospedale eventually donated the structure to the Comune di Milano, in 1939. The Comune restored the complex and adapted it to serve as a green area and as a venue for cultural and social events.