The Orphanage (Ospedale degli Innocenti) is a historic building in Florence in Piazza Santissima Annunziata, an outstanding example of Early Renaissance architecture in Italy. The building was designed in 1419 by Filippo Brunelleschi at the request of the Guild of Wool Producers "Arte della Lana" - one of the richest in Florence. For a long time, the building housed an orphanage - sometimes children were left directly in the pool, located in front of the portico. But in 1660 the pool was removed and a mechanism for secret reception of children was built in its place: the door had a special rotating wheel, with its help the child got inside, and the adult who brought the child remained unnoticed.→