The Hospital de la Caridad or ''Charity Hospital'' in

Algeciras Algeciras ( , ) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

was built as a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

to serve the population but today the building is preserved as part of the town's cultural heritage. It has been an arts centre but is intended to become a municipal museum.

History

The hospital was built with the patronage of Father Tomás del Valle who in 1748 was the Bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta. The hospital was required because the existing military hospital could not handle the long staying cases. The cost was met by the diocese and by popular contributions. Within four years some rooms were complete and the adjoining chapel, Chapel of La Caridad was ready by 1754 but the hospital itself was not finished until 1768. The hospital had two storeys build around two courtyards with one on them serving as a graveyard. The funding of the hospital changed over the years as the state took over from the uncertainty of charity funding. The final addition was an extra wing in 1928 but the hospital ceased to be a hospital during the twentieth century. It still had a maternity role in 1975.Otros dos posibles casos de bebés robados señalan al antiguo hospital de la Caridad
EuroPasur.es, January 2011 In 1990 it was taken over by a cultural foundation called "José Luis Cano" who put their name to the building until the foundation struggled in 2012. The building is to become a municipal museum.

References

{{Algeciras Museums in Andalusia Hospitals in Spain Hospitals established in the 1760s