San Giuseppe

The construction of the church of San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph) began in 1839, on a project by the Florentine architect Giuseppe Puini, on what was before a restricted military area.

The church was consecrated in 1842, but it was soon damaged during the Austrian invasion of 1849. A few years later, in 1952, the church became a hospital duiring a virulent cholera epidemic.

In the early 1900s, at the time of these old postcards, the parish of San Giuseppe was, with almost 9000 inhabitants, the most populated parish of Livorno.

The church was used as a warehouse during World War I, it was restored in the 1920s, but the building was heavily damaged again during World War II.

(Postcards digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)

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