The Hospital

The ruins of an old hospital are also preserved in the street of the church. We know of its existence and operation since the sixteenth century, the Account Book of the Hospital de la Concepción, 1579-1652 is still preserved in the parish archives of the church of San Juan Evangelista de Deleitosa.

It had up to five doctors who attended to sick migrants from the surrounding area and from the town. San Pedro de Alcántara was treated in this hospital during his last illness before being transferred to Arenas de San Pedro where he died. The hospital was still in full activity at the end of the 18th century.

PATRIMONY
HOUSE
C/ Iglesia 7
927 540 004
Exteriors
aytodeleitosa@deleitosa.es
De paseo a la iglesia

It was intended to accommodate the poor and sick, with a room to accommodate pilgrims passing through the village or priests and friars. At the end of the XVIII century, only poor transients were welcomed there, and most of its sales were destined to help some needy poor person from the town who had a serious illness.

The patronage of the hospital was in the hands of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of Deleitosa, who appointed a steward and the accounts were periodically reviewed by the visitor of the bishopric of Plasencia.

The building in which the hospital was located had two parts, the hospital itself and a chapel. The Account Book (1579) mentions an image of the Virgin and Child representing the Immaculate Conception, the patron saint of the hospital, which had mantles, chokers, crowns and diadems. The hospital had an entrance doorway with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a stable next to it and a corral where another doorway is still preserved.

The chapel communicated with one of the rooms through a grille and on one of its sides it bordered the corral. The rooms were roofed with wooden beams and shingles, and over time the poor people’s quarters and later the chapel were doubled in size. According to the Account Book of the Hospital de la Concepción, between 1582 and 1590 several reforms were carried out in the hospital to avoid humidity problems, reinforcing the walls to protect them from the rain, and the hospital corral had to be rebuilt because they were in very bad condition. redoing a doorway, replacing some rafters, doubling the rooms of the poor and repairing some walls that had fallen down.

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