This is one of the few remaining “foundling wheels” still visible in Italy, located in Calle della Pietà, where the Church of La Pietà and its monastery once stood — today part of the Hotel Metropole.
The door was intended for mothers who were unable to raise their child and, for that reason, were forced to abandon them. Thanks to its mechanism, the wheel allowed mothers to leave their newborn in complete anonymity: once the baby was placed inside the cradle and the bell was rung to alert the nuns of a new arrival, the mother could walk away without being seen by anyone.
Next to the wheel, beneath the bas-relief depicting the Virgin with Child, there’s a small slot and the inscription “offerta agli esposti” (“offering for the abandoned”), where donations could be made to help the monastery support the many orphans it housed.
On the opposite side of the street, a marble plaque states that it was strictly forbidden to abandon children and that violators would be cursed and excommunicated — especially if the parents had the means to raise them.
