Ospedale delle Bambole
Napoli
Hidden gemMuseums
The story
Behind a shop window in Palazzo Marigliano a craftsman mends glass eyes, porcelain arms and dolls' curls, in a workshop born more than a century ago.
Access
€ small museum
The story
The Doll Hospital is a historic workshop-museum of the old centre of Naples, in via San Biagio dei Librai, inside Palazzo Marigliano. It was born in 1895 when Luigi Grassi, a theatrical set designer, began to repair broken dolls: the neighbours took to calling him 'the hospital of the dolls', and the Grassi family has carried on the craft for five generations.
What to see
A unique place, between restoration workshop and museum, where dolls of porcelain, wood, papier-mâché and plastic are 'treated' like patients: heads, eyes and limbs to be repaired, themed departments such as 'surgery' and 'orthopaedics', and collections of vintage dolls. One of the most poetic workshops of Naples.
Tips
It is at once an active workshop and a museum (since 2017): it has its own entrance and hours, check on the official site. You are on Spaccanapoli, a stone's throw from San Gregorio Armeno: perfect to fit into a walk among the decumani. Children love it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Doll Hospital?
A historic workshop-museum of Naples that since 1895 has repaired and restored dolls and toys, in via San Biagio dei Librai; the Grassi family has carried it on for five generations.
What can you see at the Doll Hospital?
Vintage and under-restoration dolls, arranged as in a hospital with themed 'departments', among porcelain, wood and papier-mâché; it is at once a workshop and a museum.
Where is the Doll Hospital?
In via San Biagio dei Librai, on Spaccanapoli, in the old centre of Naples, inside Palazzo Marigliano.
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