Founded by Antonio Sánchez de Taibo, Knight of Santiago, perpetual ruler of the city and ambassador to Flanders. It opened in 1675 with the intention of being a hospital and accommodation for pilgrims. In the founding deed it is stated that they should have 30 wooden beds, being able to reach 50 if necessary; there had to be a doctor of science and experience, an apothecary and nurses (man and woman); one person would have three charges : administrator, chaplain and butler, never being able to leave the building neither by day nor by night. A chapel is also being built to service the building. It should be noted that the building was decorated with magnificent oil paintings representing the Apostleship, a copy of the Apostleship of the Prado Museum, a work by Rubens and probably bought in the city of Antwerp in the artist's workshop by Antonio Sanchez de Taibo. Today they can be seen in the Room of the Apostolate of the Museum das Mariñas, together with other pieces from the now disappeared hospital.
Did you know that the first post-mortem Caesarean section was performed on a pilgrim who was staying in the hospital? The woman's name was Isabel of Lucerne and she arrived with her husband and a young son on a pilgrimage to Santiago. Her husband fell ill and died suddenly, she and the child were left in the hospital but in less than two months she suffered a stroke and that is when the doctors decided to perform the emergency Caesarean to save the life of the baby, they did not succeed. The young child is adopted by a family in the city. It happened in 1739.
From the San Antonio Hospital we have a perspective of the whole Plaza Hermanos García Naveira highlighting the Archive Building, the School of Orphans and the Fountain of Diana Cazadora that together with the Statue of the Hermanos García Naveira, the church of Santo Domingo and the area of the known as Soportales form the main square of Betanzos.