When first constructed it was originally intended to be used as an Orphanage but was quickly converted to be used as a POW Camp in World War II.
Described in Wikipedia as “a large brick building with stone facings and neo-classical features” it is today used as a Centre for Neurological Disorders.
Rex (my partner) and I were driving from Lucca to Verona in July 2019 and I was just starting out on my journey to find out where my father had been a POW in Italy during World War II. We had to go a little out of our way to get to Fontanellato but it was well worth the detour as the prison camp I had imagined bore no resemblance to what stood in front of us.
PG 49 at Fontanellato in Italy - The Story of allied servicemen who were held prisoner of war in this town in Italy in World War II 