First Hospital of Our Lady of the Forsaken

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: 1745

The first civil hospital in Santa Cruz de Tenerife was founded in 1745 by two priests, brothers Ignacio and Rodrigo Logman, vicar of the city and parish priest of La Concepción respectively. The building was located where the current MUNA (Museum of Nature and Archaeology) stands today, on the other side of the Santos ravine, opposite the church of La Concepción.

The construction of this first healthcare facility for the city's civilian population began imminently thanks to financial contributions from several wealthy local merchants, so the hospital was already operating efficiently by 1753.

It was a small facility built in the traditional Canarian style with capacity for about thirty beds intended not only for sick people but also, as was customary in such charitable establishments, for elderly people without resources. The hospital also had an adjoining chapel with a single nave that housed some paintings of religious themes inside. 

This first Hospital of the Forsaken began its journey hosting not only disadvantaged people but also distinguished patients, such as Lieutenant General Antonio Benavides, former governor of Florida, Vera Cruz and Yucatán, who sought here, in this hospital of his native land, rest in his final days which ended on 9 January 1761. 

After years of good operation thanks to substantial income from trade with America, the hospital soon began to decline. By the late 18th century, in a state of near abandonment, it was sustained by Christian charity that barely covered the expenses of the few sick and elderly housed there.

In the 19th century, it definitively came under the control of the City Council. The council then considered its complete renovation, commissioning the municipal architect in 1853 to transform it into a new hospital suited to the times demanded by 19th-century progress. The magnificent neoclassical façade building erected then, with some modifications, is the one we can see today.

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