- Hospicio Cabañas
Infobox World Heritage Site
WHS = Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara
State Party = MEX
Type = Cultural
Criteria = i, ii, iii, iv
ID = 815
Region = Latin America and the Caribbean
Year = 1997
Session = 21st
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/815The Hospicio Cabañas in Guadalajara,Jalisco ,Mexico is one of the oldest and largest hospital complexes inSpanish America and aWorld Heritage Site .The complex was founded in
1791 by the Bishop of Guadalajara in order to combine the functions of aworkhouse ,hospital ,orphanage , andalmshouse . It owes its name toJuan Ruiz de Cabañas who was appointed to the see of Guadalajara in1796 and engagedManuel Tolsá , a renowned architect fromMexico City , to design the structure.Tolsá's design was based on such classic examples as
Les Invalides inParis andEl Escorial nearMadrid . The buildings form a rectangle measuring 164 m by 145 m. These are single-storey structures which have 7.5 m in height. The chapel is twice as high and has a dome rising to the height of 32.5 m. The complex is erected on one level, "so as to facilitate the movement of the sick, the aged, and children." [http://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/815.pdf]Following the death of Cabañas in
1823 , construction lasted until1829 . Although it served for a time as a barracks in the mid-19th century, the hospital lasted well into the 20th century and continued to function until1980 , when the Cabañas Cultural Institute, with affiliated schools for arts and crafts, moved in. The highlight of interior decoration is a series of monumental frescoes byJosé Clemente Orozco , including one of his finest creations, the allegory of "The Man of Fire" (1936-39).References
* [http://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/815.pdf ICOMOS evaluation of the property]
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