The 'Wheel of the Exposed'

Map

Ruota degli Esposti (Wheel of the Exposed)

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On July 16th 1216, Pope Innocent III died. 

Outside the Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia, an ancient hospital near St Peter's Basilica, is the Ruota degli Esposti (Wheel of the Exposed), evidence of a practise that was once all too prevalent in Rome.
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Protected by an ornate wrought-iron grille, the wooden wheel was the place where, for centuries, unwanted babies were anonymously deposited. A baby was placed on the wheel, the wheel was turned and the baby was taken into the care of the hospital.

It is thought that the first wheel was set up by the founder of the hospital, Pope Innocent III (r. 1198-1216). According to legend, Innocent III kept having troubling dreams in which he saw the corpses of babies being fished out of the river Tiber.

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