Hospital de San Lazaro, Havana, Colonial healthcare institution in Havana, Cuba.
Hospital de San Lazaro was a colonial complex in Havana featuring a central church surrounded by medical buildings, patient wards, and open courtyards arranged across the site. The layout separated different functions into distinct structures while maintaining a unified overall design.
Established by royal decree in 1781, this institution became Havana's primary center for leprosy treatment for over a century. Operations ended in 1916 as medical practices evolved and the need for such a facility changed.
The site blended Spanish colonial religious practices with local healing approaches, creating a space where worship and medical care happened side by side. Visitors could see how the layout kept these two functions separate yet connected.
The former site is located in the present-day Cayo Hueso neighborhood, roughly a mile outside Havana's original colonial walls. The area is accessible on foot and sits within a residential zone where other historical structures can be found nearby.
The complex featured a tripartite portico design that intentionally kept religious and medical spaces apart in ways that were ahead of its time. This spatial arrangement reveals how care and worship were organized as separate yet coordinated activities.
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