The Diputación cloisters host 150 years of the Knights Hospitaller

The history and healthcare work of the Spanish Hospitaller Knights of Saint John the Baptist have filled the cloisters of the Diputación de Cádiz since this Friday. The exhibition ‘150th Anniversary of the Royal and Meritorious Institution of the Spanish Hospitaller Knights of Saint John the Baptist’ reviews a century and a half of work by this entity and commemorates the approval of its first regulations by King Alfonso XII in 1876. The display focuses on the people who have supported the institution as patrons over that time and, above all, on the healthcare work carried out. The cloisters bring together objects, documents and images that attest to that work not only in the Iberian Peninsula but also overseas, as can be documented in the Cuban War. Among the pieces on display are the care spaces and the surgical material used at the Casa de Socorro on calle Benjumeda, alongside portraits of the healthcare professionals who worked in those spaces and with that material.

In Cádiz, the entity had two Casas de Socorro. One in the extramuros neighbourhood of San José, at plaza de la Iglesia, número 81, called Casa de Socorro de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. Another in the historic centre, the Casa de Socorro de San Juan Bautista, which was first located at número 10 on calle Benjumeda, on the corner with Rosario Cepeda. Since its beginnings in the city of Cádiz, its social work has been linked to the most vulnerable people: among its first agreements is the establishment of a Casa de Socorro on plaza de San José, followed by a second facility at número 10 on calle Benjumeda, moved in 1907 to número 11 on the same street. Its participation in the relief efforts after the Cádiz explosion of 1947 is remembered. The Diputación de Cádiz maintains a stable framework of collaboration with the Hospitaller Knights to improve the conditions of the people they shelter. The entity was awarded the Medalla de la Provincia in 2026.

The exhibition can be visited until December 4, Monday to Friday from 11:00 to 13:30 and from 18:00 to 20:30. It remains closed on public holidays and weekends. At the opening to the public were present the president of the Consejo Rector Supremo de los Caballeros Hospitalarios Españoles de San Juan Bautista, José María Gómez López; the exhibition curator, Francisco Glicerio Conde Mora; and the territorial delegate for Social Services, Families and Equality, Alfonso Candón, as reported by the Diputación.