Loggia del Bigallo
Loggia del Bigallo, or The Bigallo. Gothic loggia built in 1352-1358 for the Capitani di Santa Maria. Abandoned children were displayed here for three days, after which time they were sent to foster homes. Piazza del Duomo.
Historic Centre of Florence UNESCO World Heritage site.
"To the left, also at the corner of the Via de' Calzaioli, is the Bigallo (restored in 1881-2 and 1904), an exquisite little Gothic loggia, built in 1352-58, for the 'Capitani di Santa Maria', for the exhibition of foundlings to the charitable public, and afterwards made over to the 'Capitani del Bigallo', a similar fraternity. Over the arcades (N.) are a relief of the Madonna by Alberto di Arnoldo (1361) and two almost obliterated frescoes representing the foundation of the brotherhood (1445)".--Baedeker 1906. DSC_0178
Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI establis... ... read more 
