Hospital de la Caridad (Algeciras)

Hospital de la Caridad
Geography
Location	Algeciras, Spain
Organisation
Type	General
History
Opened	1768
Closed	1990

The Hospital de la Caridad or Charity Hospital in Algeciras, Spain, was built in 1768 as a hospital to serve the population. Today, the building is preserved as part of the town's cultural heritage and is intended to become a municipal museum.

History

The hospital was built with the patronage of Father Tomás del Valle, who was the Bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta in 1748. The need for the hospital arose because the existing military hospital could not handle long-stay cases. The construction of the hospital was funded by the diocese and popular contributions. By 1754, some rooms and the adjoining Chapel of La Caridad were completed, but the hospital itself was not finished until 1768. The hospital had two storeys built around two courtyards, with one of them serving as a graveyard.

Over the years, the funding of the hospital changed, with the state eventually taking over from charity funding. An extra wing was added in 1928, but the hospital ceased to function as a hospital during the twentieth century. It still had a maternity role in 1975. In 1990, the hospital was taken over by a cultural foundation called "José Luis Cano," which struggled and eventually led to the building's future as a municipal museum.