At the end of a very important axis for the City, with a studied positioning: the Church and the Convent of the Zoccoli are located at the southern end, outside the gate, of the road that crosses the center within the Bisatto, grazes the Cathedral and reflects, at the foot of the Hill, with the Arch of Falconetto.
The cloister, used for centuries as a hospital, is a perfect example of Renaissance architecture that retains its charm over time and with new users, also thanks to a beautiful discreet and complete refunctionalization project.
Even today, when hospital functions have been transferred and the former convent has returned to being detached from the rest, the buildings of the block of the Convent of the Zoccoli are specialized and differently organized in relation to the road network: they are not completely along the street but fill the large brolo that survived until about 100 years ago.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Este expanded in the blocks to the south of the Bisatto, until building along Via Consolazioni, which runs alongside the church, while the large Brolo and the fields to the south remain intact, in which the ancient convent is still immersed.
A large cultivated estate to the south historically completes the convent, ensuring its self-sufficiency since the beginning, a sort of "estate" outside the city for the Minor Franciscans. In fact, it is precisely the undeveloped lot that motivates the acquisition of the property by the public heritage of the complex, where the hospital was located, now home to clinics.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Magnificent Community requested the Curia for the construction of the convent-hospital managed by the Minor Franciscans. In 1769, the Venetian Senate established the suppression of 16 convents, including this one, for which the Magnificent Community, still governing Este, decided to purchase it, designating it for the new hospital.
At the beginning of the 1800s, the hospital housed in the convent had about fifty beds while the other parts were used to accommodate military troops. The large land with orchards and arable fields, without a wall and at the gates of the city, is a resource that has been exploited over time to create a modern hospital by expanding the existing one since 1500 in the cloister.
The sense of classic equilibrium sought in the Renaissance is determined in the Cloister with great simplicity by the rhythm and proportions of the arches on the ground floor and the loggia with a beam construction on the upper floor.
An important part of the charm of the cloister comes from the large magnolias that shaded its internal garden, perfectly maintained and isolated from the city: almost an archetype of the peace and serenity of conventual life.
The complex built at the beginning of the 1500s offers flexible multifunctionality for centuries, with a sober architecture that maintains its effectiveness, as can be seen from the recent uses. The interventions carried out are precise and light: in addition to the restoration and cleaning of the complex, work has primarily focused on vertical distribution, services, and the arrangement of a series of fixed furnishings. The functional organization of the convent, of great simplicity, allows for very different uses with remarkable flexibility offered by the large rooms on the first floor and the external distribution on the ground floor of the cloister.
