The Architecture of the San Andrés Hospital Complex in Cusco

Abstract

The San Andrés Hospital in Cusco no longer exists, but thanks to various sources we can reconstruct its history, architecture and the decoration of the chapel located within. The hospital was founded in 1649 by Andrés Pérez de Castro and was dedicated to the care of white women (‘españolas’). The history of its creation can be found in the chronicle written in the mid-18th century by Diego de Esquivel y Navia. Some details are also explained by the inscriptions on the paintings that came from the Hospital Chapel and which are now in the San Juan de Dios Chapel at the Almudena Church and in the sacristy of the Jesuit church in Cusco. Detailed descriptions of the chapel can also be found in the documentation (we have used the inventories from 1786 and 1835). Two iconographic sources have also been preserved. The chapel façade is visible on the 1724 plan, and the hospital buildings themselves on a painting from the latter half of the 17th century. All of these sources allow for the presentation of the hospital chapel and a partial reconstruction of its decorations.