Defining old

“Never say oops in the operating room…”

Leo Troy

So here we have the Pennsylvania Hospital Surgical Amphitheatre. It was built in 1804 and the last operation was performed here in 1868. It seated 180 people and slept one. The room employed natural light from the glass dome above, and surgery was only ever scheduled in daytime, between 11am and 2pm. This is the oldest surviving operating room in the world, and is now a museum that is a must for those interested in surgery. Now some of you will think is that correct, what the Massachusetts General in Boston? Well the Ether Dome is where the oldest general anaesthetic in North America took place, but the room is not the oldest. Others might think, what about Europe? In fact, the oldest operating theatre in Europe is at the original site of St Thomas’s hospital in London, and dates from 1822. It too is preserved as a museum, and oddly is a reasonably popular wedding venue. How about that fancy wooden place in Italy? Well the iconic University of Padua theatre was built in 1595, but was only ever a space for anatomical dissection. #creepyweddings #letsmakelemonade