Why go
Look beyond the prints to the building that contains them. Carved courtyard arches and heraldic details preserve the character of an earlier Marbella, when this complex served a charitable purpose. Its history connects domestic houses, a family foundation and care for the town’s poor in one compact setting.
What to look for
- Carved courtyard arches and heraldic details
- A historic tower above the former hospital
The full story
Alfonso de Bazán left two adjoining houses to establish a hospital for the poor of the neighbourhood. The foundation took the name of Our Lady of the Incarnation, and its complex included both wards and a chapel that also served as the Bazán family burial crypt. This was a charitable institution rooted in a private bequest rather than a purpose-built modern hospital. The building developed in stages and combines architectural styles, including Mudéjar work, a tradition that carried Islamic craftsmanship into Christian Spain. A board oversaw the hospital into the early twentieth century, while Trinitarian friars from a neighbouring monastery provided pastoral care. The monastery has disappeared, but the surviving hospital now gives Spanish printmaking a setting shaped by several centuries of civic and religious life.