La ruota della Chiesa di Sant’Annunziata, Naples
THE RECEIVING ROOM
The outside wall of the foundling home held a small door that opened onto a drum-like wheel, somewhat like a turntable. She pulled the cord and the nun on duty, alerted by the bell, removed the infant. There is a small peep-hole above the wheel. The nun placed the infant on the shelf and checked for any items the mother may have left as mementos. They often included such religious medals or devotional cards. She removed the swaddling, washed and redressed the child. All foundlings wore the same shapeless woven gown. Mother Superior was notified and began the process of preparing for the baby’s baptism. A large cupboard held sacramental vestments. The marble baptismal font is visible (right in photo). Based on my research, this was the only time in history that a woman was permitted to administer a sacrament of the Catholic Church. This allowance was surely due to the large numbers of babies taken into care. The receiving room, the nuns, the arrival and baptism of two infants make up Part I of The Eternal Pine. I name them Alessandra and Gianluca. They were together for the first ten years of their lives.
The turntable of the wheel was designed to accomodate newborn infants. At times, desperate mothers and or fathers crammed in larger babies, some arrived with broken bones.
La ruota (wheel) della Chiesa di Sant’Annunziata.
This is a photo I took in 2022. It shows the receiving room of the orphanage. The cupboard holds a drum-like wheel where a mother could anonymously leave her infant. During times of widespread poverty, hunger and disease thousands died. In many cities, convents became foundling homes for abandoned babies. The wheel allowed a woman to leave her child anonymously. The wheel was built into the outer wall of the building.The mother opened the small wooden doors and placed the baby on the wheel, pulled the cord to alert the nun on duty and turned the wheel inward. Often a mother would leave some token or remembrance, but very rarely did a baby arrive with a name, so they were named by the nuns. In Naples, the boys commonly received the name, Esposito (from the Latin, exposed, out of place)for boys. Girls were often given the name of the convent, such as Annunziata. The orphanage employed wet nurses or sent the foundlings to farms outside the city. La ruota di Sant’Annunziata was in use from the 1600’s to the mid-1800’s. The building remained an orphanage until the 1950’s; later it became a maternity home. It is now a pediatric hospital.
