La construcción del Hospital San Juan de Dios en la Nueva Guatemala. Problemas de financiamiento, materiales y mano de obra

Abstract

The city of Santiago de Guatemala suffered a devastating earthquake in 1773, forcing its relocation to a safer site. Royal authorities at the time believed that earthquakes were caused by volcanoes, given that these active volcanoes bordered the Panchoy Valley. Captain General Martin de Mayorga used the army to pressure the inhabitants of the ruined city of Guatemala to move. The valley of La Ermita, also known as Las Vacas, was chosen as the new location. In 1776, the first town council meeting was held there. From then on, the city of Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción had to rebuild from scratch, but unfortunately, the economy had collapsed due to the expenses incurred by relocating royal and religious institutions. This caused the city to take many years to beautify itself. One of the institutions affected in the construction of its building was the Royal Hospital of San Juan de Dios, which, due to adverse economic conditions, experienced problems with construction, labor, and materials. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the difficulties faced by Guatemala City in general, and specifically by the construction of the San Juan de Dios Hospital, which was run by the Hospitaller Brothers of Saint John of God. To this end, archival documentation was consulted to highlight the problems that plagued so many religious and charitable institutions, as was the case with this hospital.