We know that the impressive Palazzo del Monte di Pietà was completed in 1626 and that the old hospital was built on its eastern side. Of notable merit is the corner column on which is found the statue of the angel reggi cartiglio, the apotropaic gargoyles, the elaborate lines of the cornices and the mouldings applied to the large windows on the northern side.

The historian Antonio Profilo, in his writings of 1894, provides us with information regarding the story of this building and its various uses during the course its history. Profilo reports that in a document of the notary Cesare Guarini in 1578 it is mentioned that the archpriest of the Colleggiata at the time, Lucantonio Resta, together with other nobles, did their utmost to get the hospital built. From another document of the notary Angelo Simone in 1559 we learn that the Hospital entitled Corpo di G. Cristo housed the Priory, the Procurator, and the Treasurer. It is likely then, that the hospital was built between 1559 and 1578.

 From 1578 the Arciconfraternita del Sacramento (Archconfraternity of the Sacrament) was added to the hospital, possibly instituted together with the hospital. The duties of the Arciconfraternita were to feed the poor and pilgrims. According to another Mesagnese historian, Mavaro, also the università of Mesagne contributed to the construction of the hospital, indeed, on the side of the building that faces Piazza Criscuolo it is still possible to see the crest of the town of Mesagne with the cartouche Hospitium Pauperum on the side. An accurate description of the hospital was provided in 1731 by the Regio Tavolario (a royally appointed architect or engineer) Pietro Vincaccia in his Apprezzo del Feudo di Mesagne. We learn that on the first floor of the building, with its entrance on Piazza Commestibili (now known as Piazza Criscuolo), there was a church called ‘the hospital’ consisting of a large room looking out on the piazza, with a wooden ceiling and a painting in oil depicting la Cena di Nostro Signore. Another four rooms are also listed as part of the hospital.

According to Profilo’s reports, the Monte di Pietà was set up by the nobleman Palmerio de Rinaldo who, having lost his children, donated 400 ducats to the representatives of hospital so that they could build Monte di Pietà. The act of donation was recorded by the notary Cesare Guarini on the 17 February 1591. In another deed from the 29^th December 1593, again drawn up by the notary Guarini, Palmerio de Rinaldo donated an annual income of 1000 ducats dependent on certain conditions: that the hospital be governed in the same way as the hospital in Lecce, that 16 ducats per year were allocated to the chaplain, that 24 ducats per year were spent on two weddings for two orphaned spinsters and that the rest be distributed to the poor. Successively, there were many other donations such as that by Cardinal Mario Albricci who, in his testament of 1679, allocated additional amounts to Monte di Pietà.

Initially, the hospital was administered by the lay citizens; then there was a mixed administration composed of one lay person and one member of the clergy, but in 1681 the archiepiscopal curia of Brindisi decided the administration should only be ecclesiastic. This was tolerated until 1760 when the Mesagnese università petitioned King Ferdinando IV. The king decreed that the administration of Monte di Pietà should only be executed by lay citizens, so re-establishing the wish of the founder. The building was then a communal premises from 1835 until 1868 when the magistrate’s court subsequently took up residence there.