About Hospital San Juan de Dios, Bogotá
Historic Architecture, Architecture, Interesting Places, Other Buildings And Structures
Hospital San Juan de Dios in Bogotá houses the National Institute of Immunology (Instituto Nacional de Inmunología) where important work on vaccines for malaria is carried out. This is one of the oldest serving hospitals in Latin America. It was founded in 1723. It initially consisted of three buildings of republican architectural style. The main building was modeled after the Pasteur Institute in France. A more modern high-rise building was constructed in the 1960s to house the hospital, and the original buildings were left unrepaired. Dr. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo housed his lab (Instituto Colombiano de Immunología) in the old buildings, remodeling them to their initial architectural beauty. Patarroyo's lab was one of the leading institutes in the world working on a vaccine for malaria.
