[A study on the Safranbolu Syphilis Hospital and the lepres' shelter]

Safranbolu Syphilis Hospital, which was founded in the years 1884-1886, was situated in the Kiranköy district of the town. During the Ottoman reign, Kiranköy was the residential area of leather merchants from France and austria. Syphilis was widespresd in Safranbolu, a province of Kastamonu and this hospital was built there by the order of the Sultan in order to protect citizens and to prevent the spread of this disease from Europe. In the 1884 yearbook "Salname" of Kastamonu, the hospital is named as The Safranbolu Hospital for the syphilis and for the poor. ("Safranbolu Frengi ve Gureba Hastahanesi", the word "Gureba" meaning poor and homeless.) According to the marble inscription on the top of the gate of the building, the hospital was built and inaugurated in the year 1302 during the governorship of Abdurrahman Pasha. ...