Last week I was admitted to Lucca’s asylum for the mentally insane – as a visitor, of course since the institution closed in 1999. Before becoming an asylum at the start of the nineteenth century it was a monastery. Mario Tobino was one of its most noteworthy directors and he wrote sympathetically about working there in an age when Lagarctol had not been discovered yet. His book ‘The Free Women of Magliano’ is an amazing read in the world of psychiatry as it evolved towards a psycho-pharmaceutical revolution.

It was, in fact, my third admission to the ‘manicomio’ of Maggiano. The first visit was quite by accident as we were keen to find out what a vast and dilapidated pile on top of a hill had been used for. The second visit was specially booked and I have written extensively about that one at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/luccas-very-own-snakepit/.

Several years had passed since that visit and I was keen to see what progress had been made in the upkeep of this monument to a former age of mental therapy. Part of the building had been restored into a bookshop and museum but little had changed to the rest of the complex except for an increasingly difficult struggle to keep the roof from leaking or even collapsing. Indeed, the part we did not see, which are two very long wings one on each side of the central buildings, show roof collapse as I was able to exam them on Google Earth.

The structure is placed in the delightful country of the Lucca hills and, were it not for its past use the place would have the most delightful prospects. Indeed, several lunatic institutions in the UK are similarly placed in the charming hills of Surrey and have now been converted into most desirable residences.

The main building has two cloisters: one for male inmates, the other for female inmates. There is a lovely chapel which had been used by the former monks there.

Here is a selection of photographs I took on that recent visit:

Doctor Mario Tobino thought the same about the hospital’s delightful location and even after his retirement retained his residence there:

Doctor Tobino’s innovations during his tenure at Maggiano included art and music therapy. Indeed, until the hospital closed it held an annual song contest open to all.

Here is a further collection of photos I took of different wards and treatment centres:

The band of volunteers who are keeping this building open to the public are doing a very worthy job. We should not forget these places of suffering and of hope in equal measure.