Hospital de Nuestra Señora de la Paz - Seville

The Hospital of Nuestra Señora de la Paz, also known as the Asylum of San Juan de Dios, is a former hospital whose construction began in the 16th century.

This hospital is located on a site where successive hospitals stood from the 14th century.

In 1835 it was declared exclaustrated, leaving the building abandoned and eventually used for political purposes. Later the religious returned in 1880, until 1978, when it was closed due to its state of ruin that mainly affected the roofs closest to the facade in the hospital part. It was restored between 1982 and 1989.

It is a medium-sized building organized around a square courtyard bordered by galleries with semicircular arches resting on columns on the lower floor, with balconies decorated with plasterwork on the upper floor. In this part of the building there is also a room with paired marble columns and a staircase decorated with marble in different colors.

Of the entire complex, the most striking is the church , with a refurbished facade facing the Plaza del Salvador, with Baroque decoration in three sections, dating from the early 17th century , attributed to Vermondo Resta and renovated at the end of the 18th century. The first of the sections has four columns supporting the frieze and in the center is the doorway. The second section has three niches with statues of Saint Augustine, the Virgin Mary and Saint John of God, framed by columns and decorated pilasters. The third section has a pilaster window centered on the openings of the lower sections and framed by a varied decoration of rocaille in Baroque style and the facade is surmounted by a broken pediment with a simple oculus. On either side are two bell towers, one on each side, topped by moving cornices and sharp pyramidal spires.

Author: Willem Vandenameele