A psychiatric hospital near the city of Rovigo, Italy was first proposed in 1897, but due to budgets and failure to gain approval by local authorities the project was delayed for decades. In 1906, construction of the asylum finally commenced in the town of Granzette, however upon its completion in 1914, World War I broke out and the hospital buildings were used exclusively by the army. The institution was left in shambles as warfare had ravaged the area, but reconstruction commenced in 1925 to finally open the hospital for psychiatric care. The Rovigio asylum was officially opened on March 20, 1930 and dedicated to King Vittorio Emanuele III.
Several Neo-classical buildings were arranged in a radial pattern adopted from British asylum construction, though Granzette lacked the connecting corridors found in English institutions. Two nested horseshoe-shaped roads were used instead, with all buildings facing a central chapel. Like many large institutions of its day, the campus resembled a quiet town, isolated from the rest of the community. A boundary wall encompassed the buildings and was described as a barrier between "the city of healthy people from the city of fools." It was not in total isolation however, as the hospital gates were swung open one day a year for the procession of Corpus Domini, where patients participated in public parades, though well guarded and separated from visitors.
The peace and quiet of this institution was considered essential for recovery. A large fountain featuring two putti (cherubs) playing in a large seashell was created by a patient in the 1930s and installed amid the tree-lined streets. An agricultural colony was established to provide both food for the patients and occupational therapy work. The hospital's magazine, published by its patients, was entitled La Canavera; the word choice was explained as follows in a 1964 edition: "to remember the environment that hosts us ..., to tell us about our childhood, our rivers, the humid fields of fog, of the wind whistling through the thick branches of the Polesine poplars ... a weak thing ... as light as the flight of a kite: the canavera."
The hospital struggled with overcrowding for most of its active years. It was built for a maximum of 400 patients, though it typically held an average of 700 inside its walls. Ergotherapeutic methods of treatment were introduced at the asylum by Florentine doctor Vincenzo Chiarugi, where hot baths and massage therapy were used to attempt to soothe the agitated mind. Intrusive therapies such as insulin shock and electroshock were also extensively used,
During the second World War, many of the hospital's staff were sent to the front lines to fight the allied powers, leaving the psychiatric hospital with very few doctors or nurses. The situation became critical in 1943-1945, when the entire institution was reduced to only one doctor and the mortality rate spiked at 12.54%. German troops commandeered several buildings for military purposes and rumors of gold and other Nazi treasures stashed within the walls and basements have circulated ever since.
In the mid-1950s and 1960s, the agricultural colony was eliminated and funds were acquired to modernize parts of the hospital, which included a new neurological unit. In 1978, Law 180 took effect and began to empty all of Italy's psychiatric hospitals, including Granzette. It was slowly downsized until 1995, when all remaining patients were transferred to the community of Canalnuovo. In 1998, plans to revive the campus into a cancer treatment center were proposed but ultimately scrapped. Recent work has been done to secure the property and several buildings are used for local events, art exhibitions, and a historical museum.
