Heritage, Memory, and Health. Enhancing the Chapel of the Old Lazaretto of San Vicente de Paul, Santiago de Chile

Abstract

The Chapel of the Antiguo Lazareto de San Vicente de Paul is a Catholic church that belonged to the disappeared institution of the same name, designed to manage the smallpox epidemic in Santiago during the late 19th century. Today, the chapel is a symbolic site for patients, employees, and health professionals at Hospital Clínico Universidad de Chile, and it is used for activities that educate the community about its historical significance. However, the limitations in its management and conservation as a Historic Monument, and the scarce recognition of the history that connects it with the extinct precinct, have hindered the deployment of these experiences.  

The article discusses heritage as a concept that encompasses contemporary practices and traditions inherited from the past, whose interaction crystallizes a spiritual space's social and historical value. It is proposed that the social value constructed around the chapel and its contemporary practices can be linked to notions of well-being and health from its sanitary past, even finding points of convergence. This can drive a valorization process capable of strengthening the heritage connections established by the hospital community, advancing beyond the notion of heritage as merely a tangible asset.