Hospital San Nicolás de Bari

Founded around 1503 and rebuilt in stone soon after, San Nicolás de Bari was the first hospital in the Americas, laid out on a cross plan with the wards arranged so that patients in every arm could see the altar at the crossing, a model borrowed from Renaissance Italy and repeated across the Spanish empire afterwards. It worked for well over three centuries before a hurricane in 1911 finished what earthquakes had started, and rather than clear it the city left the ruin standing. What remains is a set of high roofless walls and arches with sky above them and birds nesting in the gaps, floodlit at night and open to the street on all sides.

What you actually see

• The cruciform plan - the ward arms radiating from a central crossing.
• The standing arches - high walls open to the sky.
• The night lighting - the ruin floodlit after dark.
• Calle Hostos - the cobbled street it stands on.

When to go

November to April is the pleasant season. It is visible from the street at any hour and is at its best either early in the morning or after dark when it is lit. It takes only a few minutes, so it fits into any walk through the colonial city.

Honest expectations

You cannot go inside; the ruin is fenced and viewed from the pavement, which surprises people expecting to walk the wards. There is no interpretation beyond a small plaque. It takes ten minutes. Loose masonry means the fence is not going anywhere.

Nearby

The Zona Colonial surrounds it; the cathedral and Parque Colón are two minutes away.