Saint John of God Hospital

The hospital of San Juan de Dios, in Mérida

The hospital of San Juan de Dios is a fine baroque building of the seventeenth century, a former hospital for the sick and the poor, today the seat of the Assembly of Extremadura. The Mérida audio-guided tour stops here, with respect, to evoke this foundation of the hospital order of Saint John of God, saint of charity, and its baroque church.

The hospital of charity and its baroque church

Here you are in front of the hospital of San Juan de Dios. It shelters today the seat of the Assembly of Extremadura, the regional parliament, but its origin goes back to 1632, when the mayor of the town asked the brothers of Saint John of God to settle in these premises to improve the care of the sick and the poor who flocked to the town. Saint John of God, a true saint of charity, had founded this hospital order in Granada in 1539, moved by a boundless compassion for the suffering; his work then took a great scale, notably in Paris with the creation of the brothers of Charity at the beginning of the seventeenth century. In Mérida, the building was improved and enlarged in the eighteenth century thanks to the donations of the citizens. A baroque church was then built there, that first served as a chapel to the hospital; recognisable by its bases and its corner chains of granite and the rest of the building of brick, it shelters inside, in contemplation, a careful decor. With its courtyards, its galleries and its rooms of yesteryear, the building testifies to the long tradition of welcome and care of Mérida, inherited from a work of Christian charity. Become an institutional seat, it keeps the memory of those who were cared for there. A former hospital and a charitable foundation, the hospital of San Juan de Dios is discovered with respect.

What to see

Here you discover, with respect, a fine baroque building whose origin goes back to 1632, when the brothers of Saint John of God, a hospital order founded in Granada in 1539 by the saint of charity, settled there to care for the sick and the poor; enlarged in the eighteenth century thanks to the donations of the citizens, it shelters a baroque church with granite bases and brick walls, and serves today as the seat of the Assembly of Extremadura. The hospital of San Juan de Dios is a place of memory of Mérida. It is a stop to be discovered with respect.

Practical information

The hospital of San Juan de Dios lies in the centre of Mérida, reachable on foot. Today the seat of the Assembly of Extremadura, it is an institutional building whose exterior and baroque church you admire above all; the interior access follows the conditions of the place, which vary. You discover it during a walk in the centre.

What is the history of the hospital of San Juan de Dios in Mérida?

Its origin goes back to 1632, when the mayor asked the brothers of Saint John of God, a hospital order founded in Granada in 1539 by the saint of charity, to settle to care for the sick and the poor; enlarged in the eighteenth century thanks to the donations of the citizens, endowed with a baroque church, it serves today as the seat of the Assembly of Extremadura.

Where is the hospital of San Juan de Dios in Mérida?

In the centre of Mérida, in Spain.