Hotel Pedrini:
A Historic Hotel
in the Center
of Bologna
Hotel Pedrini is a 3-star hotel located in the historic center of Bologna, within an area characterized by its medieval-style streets. Here, you can find picturesque tunnels with colonnades, adjacent to its distinctive buildings.
The History of Hotel Pedrini
Hospice and Church of the Fathers of St. John of God "Fate Bene Fratelli"
Hotel Pedrini is part of an unbroken tradition of hospitality dating back to the monastic foundation of the building in the early 17th century. Originally established as a “hospitale,” in the medieval Latin sense of a place of welcome, it was designed to provide not only socio-medical assistance to the “poor and sick” but also lodging for pilgrims and travelers, thanks to its strategic location just inside the city walls along the main thoroughfare.
On October 29, 1629, the hospitaller order of the Fathers of St. John of God, popularly known as “Sportini” or “Fate Bene Fratelli,” who had been operating since 1607 at the invitation of the Archbishop in a former Templar site on the opposite side of Strada Maggiore, acquired four houses with a meadow and shops through an exchange with the noble Bocchi family of Bologna. Construction of the new convent began here. The church, dedicated to St. Anthony Abbot, with seven altars and notable works of art, was blessed on December 19, 1630. This church now stands where the main building of the hotel is located.
This was the year of the great plague, also remembered by Manzoni. During the epidemic, five of the nine friars dedicated to nursing lost their lives. Subsequently, construction began on the adjoining hospital, which could accommodate up to fifty-six beds and was completed only in 1675.
The exquisite facade, still admired today, was designed by the architect Agostino Barella, a distinguished member of the city senate and the mastermind behind the remarkable modernization and dome of the nearby Church of Madonna del Baraccano, as well as the 17th-century renovation of the Church of San Bartolomeo e Gaetano on Strada Maggiore, which stands as perhaps the finest example of Baroque architecture in Bologna.
Count Carlo Sforza Attendoli Manzoli was the greatest benefactor of this pious establishment. He funded the construction of the spacious infirmary hall, completed in 1677. The hospital, opened on January 5, 1681, was renowned for its care of soldiers, for which it received daily compensation from the Papal State.
Despite these revenues and substantial donations from wealthy Bolognese citizens, the lay brothers were often forced to beg for alms (hence their nickname "sportini").
The most significant expenses were for the pharmacy's medicinal supplies. Other costs included payments to service providers for the hospital, which in 1796 amounted to: 70 lire for the doctor, 60 lire for the cook, 42 lire for the assistant, 25 lire for the laundry worker, 20 lire for the barber, and 10 lire for the confessor.
In 1787, the Prior justified the financial difficulties and constant budget deficits by stating: “It is impossible to maintain a bed for two hundred lire a year; even a healthy person could not be sustained on bread and wine for such a price. We owe a debt to the pharmacist Campatelli; it is our custom not to restrict the doctor in ordering medicines nor to limit convalescence.”
This suggests that the availability of resources made the care provided by the Fatebenefratelli among the best of its time.
Between 1778 and 1780, the building was further expanded on its southern side, taking on its current form.
In 1797, with the arrival of French troops in Bologna, the convent was suppressed. By 1798, the hospital and its garden, of which the charming internal cloister still remains as a testament, were handed over to the Opera dei Vergognosi. The hospital was closed in 1809, as only one elderly patient remained, who was transferred to the nearby Sant’Orsola hospital.
After being sold to the superintendent of French military hospitals, the building passed into private hands until its transformation into a hotel around 1930. It was during this time that the current elegant neoclassical facade was designed by architect Moretti, giving the building its distinctive appearance.
