This church was built where a shelter had housed survivors of a famine that occurred in the surrounding area during 1527-28. From then on, the earlier building was used as a hospital and shelter, not only for the sick and injured, but also for orphans and wanderers. So when a church was built here on the site of the Ospedale dei Derelitti, it was christened Santa Maria dei Derelitti, meaning Holy Mary of the Forsaken, or Holy Mary of the Down-and-Out. Its local nickname is the 'Ospedaletto,' or 'little hospital.' The facade is peculiar for a building with such a charitable history.
|