Cleaning up as rehabilitation strategy.
In 1487 the Catholic Kings wanted to equip Vélez-Málaga with a place where all sick and poor people in need could go, by building a Royal Hospital. Once Vélez-Málaga was reconquered that year on the 3rd of May, this hospital was built next to a chapel constructed by the kings on a rock by nearby the village. In the 17th century the hospital was entrusted to the Order of Saint John of God (San Juan de Dios) and since then it is known by his name. The Hospital has unsuccessfully undergone reforms and enlargements during its all life.
Its main architectural value lies on the robustness of its materials and its geometry, and its adjustment to the slope of the land by means of retaining systems and its foundations, which are made of brick vaults with materials of the place. The most interesting spaces are actually those which are not built: the patio with Mudejar style and the patio before the Chapel’s entrance, on the Plaza San Juan de Dios. Rehabilitation interventions consisted of cleaning up all the elements superimposed on at the different reforms carried out, which impede a clear view of the magnitude of the space of the interior balconies, of the Mudejar galleries of the patio, of the brick retaining systems and the cleaning up the facades.
In the chapel the intervention has been more intense, for it was necessary to change all structure decks, reinforce its structure and act against the moistures from the foundations. To recover light entrances through the opening of the two windows that were blinded, which belong to the baroque period, is a main objective. During the demolitions it is verified that the central nave is the only one that still has de original wooden cover, which is in very bad condition, and it is decided its rebuilding. The stairs that give access to the belfry bell, which are much deteriorated, it is replaced by another one made of steel, which climb to the skylight that lights the depths of the lateral nave.
The museum equipment is part of the project. The interior spaces are adjusted to the foresee itinerary through the history of the city, under the baton of Emilio Martín Córdoba, Heritage Technician in Vélez-Málaga Town Hall.
