1645 – 20th century

The Opera Pia was founded in 1645 by Alessandro Modrone through his testamentary dispositions, but was not activated until 1711 by his niece Teresa, wife of Count Nicolò Maria Visconti.

The charitable institution had a capital of more than 650,000 Milanese lire, used to provide the dowry to poor single young women about to marry, or to noble girls who decided to enter the convent. Part of the proceeds of the capital were destined for the celebration of masses.

The charitable purposes were partly modified during the 19th century and further diversified after its constitution as a non-profit organization on July 13, 1903. The amounts used for the novitiates, which were becoming rarer, were redirected to the maintenance of 5 beds at the Fatebenesorelle hospital, founded in 1840 with the generous contribution of another member of the Visconti di Modrone family, Countess Laura, widow of Count Filippo Ciceri. Subsequently, subsidies were also given to the so-called "embarrassed poor", i.e. people of bourgeois or noble status to whom confidential aid was given, war orphans, students. Other amounts were used for thermal treatments and sea baths. The charity’s activities continue to this day.

The archive currently includes 100 items (80 folders and 20 registers) which conserve documents dating from 1547 to 1980, but suffered damage during the bombing of August 1943 that seriously impacted the building in Via Cerva where it was kept. It has recently been reordered and inventoried. The documentation is organized into five main titles, which in turn are divided into classes and subclasses: Amministrazione, Legati, Fondi e case, Protocolli, Ospedaletto di Vimercate. This last title actually refers to an autonomous foundation - of which only one folder and one register remain - founded in 1664 by Giovanni Battista Secco Barella and passed to the patronage of the Visconti family after about a century. In 1918 it was incorporated into the Congregazione di Carità di Vimercate.

In any case, the archive of the Opera Pia preserves precious testimony not only of the family history, but of the urban and religious history of Milan. Particularly rich, for example, is the documentation regarding the management of religious bequests and spiritual gifts, underscoring the Visconti’s strong ties to the church and monastery of Santa Maria della Visitazione in Via Santa Sofia in Milan. It was in fact the legacy of the Marquis Alessandro Modrone that enabled the construction of the new church in 1717, while his niece Teresa contributed to the reconstruction and maintenance of the monastery. Testimony of the vicissitudes of the convent come from the lists of the Mothers Superior, from the registers of the congregations of the protectors of the monastery, and from the correspondence between the Visconti and the diocesan authorities.