Ruinas Hospital San Nicolás De Bari

Built between 1503 and 1508 under the reign of Governor Nicolás de Ovando, this oldest hospital in the Americas was used as a model for other hospitals built in the New World. The Ruins of the San Nicolás de Bari Hospital—named after Saint Nicholas of Bari, considered the patron saint of cures—sit on the north side of Calle Hostos, where pigeons are now its primary residents. Visitors pass through for photogenic snapshots of this colonial ruins scenery, which are remains of a once splendid piece of Gothic and Renaissance architecture. The hospital survived numerous historical events, including pirate attacks, earthquakes, and revolutions.