Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara
The Hospicio Cabañas was built at the beginning of the 19th century to provide care and shelter for the disadvantaged – orphans, old people, the handicapped and chronic invalids. This remarkable complex, which incorporates several unusual features designed specifically to meet the needs of its occupants, was unique for its time. It is also notable for the harmonious relationship between the open and built spaces, the simplicity of its design, and its size. In the early 20th century, the chapel was decorated with a superb series of murals, now considered some of the masterpieces of Mexican art. They are the work of José Clemente Orozco, one of the greatest Mexican muralists of the period.
The Hospicio Cabañas was built at the beginning of the 19th century to provide care and shelter for the disadvantaged – orphans, old people, the handicapped and chronic invalids. This remarkable complex, which incorporates several unusual features designed specifically to meet the needs of its occupants, was unique for its time. It is also notable for the harmonious relationship between the open and built spaces, the simplicity of its design, and its size. In the early 20th century, the chapel was decorated with a superb series of murals, now considered some of the masterpieces of Mexican art. They are the work of José Clemente Orozco, one of the greatest Mexican muralists of the period.
Outstanding Universal Value
Brief Synthesis
Located in Guadalajara in the central region of western Mexico, Hospicio Cabañas was founded at the beginning of the 19th century to provide care and shelter to the needy including orphans, elderly, handicapped and chronic invalids. Architect Manuel Tolsá, designed a predominantly Neoclassical complex on a monumental scale, covering 2.34 hectares. Despite its size, the hospice’s uniqueness relates primarily to the simplicity of its design, specifically its dimensions and the harmony achieved between the buildings and the outdoor spaces. The overall composition is formed by a rectangular plan measuring 164 metres by 145 metres and contains a complex of single-story buildings laid out around a series of twenty-three courtyards varying in size and characteristics.
The hospice’s founder, Bishop Cabañas commissioned a design that responded to its social and economic requirements through an outstanding solution of great subtlety and humanity. The single-storey scale, covered passageways between buildings, and arcades traversing most courtyards focused on the comfort of its residents allowing them to move freely. The light and air provided by the open spaces were intended to promote healing. In addition, it was one of Bishop Cabañas’ objectives to educate residents through the learning of a trade. For example, the hospice’s corridors provided space for one of Guadalajara’s first printing press workshops and throughout the 19th century innumerable texts were published from this location.
The exception to the complex’s uniform height of 7.5 metres is found in along its central axis with the chapel and kitchen. The kitchen is topped by a saucer dome and small lantern. It is the chapel, however, that is the visually dominant feature of the hospice with its imposing dome rising 32.5 metres.
In the late 1930s, the chapel was ornamented with fifty-seven superb frescoes painted by José Clemente Orozco, one of the greatest Mexican muralists of the time. These works are considered a great masterpiece of Mexican art and illustrate both Spanish culture as well as Mexico’s indigenous culture with gods, sacrifices and temples. The focus of the murals is found in the chapel’s dome with the work El Hombre de Fuego (The Man of Fire) which represents the submission of humans to machines.
Currently, the hospice is the home of the Cabañas Cultural Institute and the Cultural Heritage of Humanity. A buffer zone of 18 urban blocks measuring 37.26 hectares surrounds the complex bounded by Federacion Street in the north, Javier Mina in the south, Mariano Jiménez in the east and on the west Calzada Independencia.
Criterion (i):The Hospicio Cabañas is a unique architectural complex designed to respond to social and economic requirements for housing the sick, the aged, orphans, and the needy with an outstanding solution of great subtlety and humanity. The murals painted in the chapel by José Clemente Orozco are considered great masterpieces of Mexican art.
Criterion (ii): The group of paintings in the chapel of the Hospicio, in particular the allegory El Hombre de Fuego (The Man of Fire) is considered to be one of the masterpieces of 20th century mural painting and had profound cultural influence beyond the American continent.
Criterion (iii): This is a unique building dedicated to public welfare assistance and speaks of the exceptional humanitarian spirit of its promoter and producer Bishop Juan Ruiz de Cabañas.
Criterion (iv): The Hospicio Cabañas is an outstanding work of renowned architect Manuel Tolsá, built predominantly in the Neoclassical style, that provided a completely different architectural solution to the conventional design of its time. The restriction of one level to facilitate movement of patients, large open spaces with natural lighting and ventilation to promote healing, and covered walkways between the different modules of the building, whose scale, covering 2.34 hectares, was at that time and still is today considered monumental.
Integrity
The original plan of architect Manuel Tolsá remains intact as the property includes the entire 2.34 hectare complex of buildings designed to house the Hospicio Cabañas. With the exception of the kitchen garden, which was divided into forty plots and bisected by two roads in the 1850s, there has been almost no later addition. At the time of inscription, a management plan was being prepared that included a buffer zone of 37.26 hectares surrounding the complex.
The property is in an earthquake prone area and as a result, seismic reinforcing has been undertaken to protect the buildings, particularly in the columns and artwork in the chapel.
Authenticity
The authenticity of the complex of the Hospicio Cabañas is high. Although no longer a hospice, its current use as the home of the Cabañas Cultural Institute and the Cultural Heritage of Humanity has required minimal change to the design. Modifications included the removal of walls to create a large conference room or theatre to house 199 people. Since 1996, work has been done to reverse changes to the kitchen wing dating from the early 20th century.
Some recent interventions that involved modern techniques and materials necessary for the preservation of the ensemble were carried out after thorough studies. An example of this work is the reinforcing of the roof construction with the replacement of original wooden beams by metal frameworks. Moreover, the columns supporting the chapel’s dome were also reinforced in recognition of the region’s seismic risks. Stabilisation of the murals was required in response to evidence of the plaster parting from the supporting walls.
Protection and management requirements
The property is currently owned by the State of Jalisco and managed by the Cabañas Cultural Institute. It is protected as an immoveable historic monument under the 1972 Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Monuments and Zones which imposes strict controls on interventions. Technical responsibility for its conservation and restoration is under the Ministry of Culture, Government of Jalisco with technical support from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA), both part of the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CNCA) of the Ministry of Education.
The complex presently houses the Cabañas Cultural Institute, and the Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The current operation of the building requires a management plan methodology, in order to strengthen, support and consolidate the organization’s roles and responsibilities. The Cabañas Cultural Institute ’s role as contemporary museum, with both temporary and permanent exhibitions, as well as the show rooms for the works of Maestro. José Clemente Orozco. Both the murals and the building itself need to maintain the conditions of the museum space, in accordance with technical safety requirements and the conservation of collections, without affecting their heritage status.
An urban development plan (1997-98) provides protection for the inscribed property from the surrounding area. This document defines the buffer zone which includes 18 blocks and part of the Plaza Tapatia covering an area of 37.26 hectares.
Long Description
Hospicio Cabañas is a unique architectural complex, designed to respond to social and economic requirements for housing the sick, aged, young and needy, which provides an outstanding solution of great subtlety and humanity. Orozco's murals in the chapel represent in part the most symbolic and characteristic elements of the indigenous culture of Mexico (gods, sacrifices, temples) and for the rest those of Spanish culture (kings, monks, churches). The central feature represents the submission of humans to machines, culminating in the masterpiece Man of Fire .
A sequence of droughts, floods and severe frosts created much poverty and misery in the town, which was founded in 1542. Around 1791 the Bishop of Guadalajara ordered the building of a hospital for the most destitute people, together with a group of lodgings for the workers and an orphanage. This project was taken up by his successor, Juan Ruiz de Cabañas, when he arrived in Guadalajara in December 1796. He requested the authorization of the Spanish Crown to create a Casa de la Misericordia to house the homeless, old people and orphans of the town.
Royal approval was given on 5 September 1803 to build a Casa de Expósitos (orphanage), which would also accept aged men and women, handicapped people and chronic invalids, along with their families, orphans or children of parents incapable of feeding them, as well as poor pilgrims. In Mexico City Bishop Cabañas had met Manuel Tolsá, an architect and sculptor from Valencia who had made some notable contributions to the architecture of Mexico. Tolsá accepted a commission to design the proposed Hospicio, but entrusted supervision of its execution to his pupil, José Gutierrez, who carried out most of the work between 1805 and 1810 (with the exception of the chapel).
The War of Independence interrupted the work, and the uncompleted buildings were used as a barracks and stables, first by the insurgents and then by the Royalist forces, until Mexico secured its independence from Spain in 1821. The Hospicio was not inaugurated until 1829. It was to become a barracks once again in 1858. When the military departed, the management of the Hospicio passed to the Sisters of Charity, and it was agreed that all the orphans would in future bear the name Cabañas. In 1872 it housed more than 500 people. However, with the expulsion of the sisters in 1872 economic aid was cut off and the number of orphans was halved by 1880. This unhappy situation was rectified by the action of the governor in 1883.
The growth of the Mexican Muralist movement was a demonstration of national cohesion and identity following the 1910-20 revolution. In the 1930s the Government of Jalisco invited José Clemente Orozco to execute a number of works in public buildings in Guadalajara, where he worked between 1936 and 1939. His murals in the chapel of the Hospicio Cabañas, representing the multi-ethnic character of Mexican society and the allegory of the Man of Fire , are among his finest works. In the 1980s the Government of Jalisco located its newly created Cabañas Cultural Institute in the Hospicio, to house schools of art and crafts, exhibition rooms, and areas for theatre, music and dance.
The entire complex is laid out on a rectangular plan: all the buildings, which are, except the chapel and the kitchen, single-storey, are ranged round 23 courtyards. The great majority of these are arcaded on at least two sides. The architectural solution adopted by Tolsá for the Hospicio is unique: its roots are to be found in ensembles such as the Monastery of El Escorial in Spain or the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Historical Description
Guadalajara was founded in 1542, on the left bank of a river flowing through a wide valley. Two native settlements nearby were eventually integrated into what became the capital of the Province of Nueva Galicia and the seat of a bishopric.
A sequence of droughts, floods, and severe frosts created much poverty and misery in the town. Around 1791 the Bishop of Guadalajara, Fray Antonio Alcalde, ordered the building of a hospital for the most destitute people, together with a groups of lodgings for the workers and an orphanage. This project was taken up by his successor, Juan Ruiz de Cabaiias, when he arrived in Guadalajara in December 1796. He requested the authorization of the Spanish Crown to create a Casa de la Misericordia to house the homeless, the old people, and the orphans of the town. [Translator's note There is no single English equivalent for this term, since the establishment combined the functions of a workhouse, hospital, orphanage, and almshouse, all of which were separate establishments in Britain.] In his letter to the King he identified the site that had been selected, at a high and healthy location outside the town with an excellent water supply.
Royal approval was given on 5 September 1803 for the building of a Casa de Expositos (orphanage), which would also accept aged men and women, handicapped people, and chronic invalids, along with their families, male and female orphans or children of parents incapable of feeding them (under ten years of age), and poor pilgrims.
In Mexico City on his way to take up his appointment in Guadalajara, Bishop Cabaiias had made the acquaintance of Manuel Tolsa, an architect and sculptor from Valencia who had made some notable contributions to the architecture of Mexico, including the remodelling of the dome and completion of the towers and facades of the cathedral in Mexico City. Tolsa accepted a commission to design the proposed Hospicio, but entrusted supervision of its execution to his pupil, Jose Gutierrez, who carried out most of the work between 1805 and 1810 (with the exception of the chapel).
The War of Independence interrupted the work, and the uncompleted buildings were used as a barracks and stables, first by the insurgents and then by the Royalist forces, until Mexico secured its independence from Spain in 1821. The death of Cabaiias in 1823 was deeply felt by the local people, and the Governor of the State brought pressure to bear on the Church to complete the entire establishment. Work began again in 1828 and the Hospicio was inaugurated the following year.
During the troubled times that followed, the Hospicio was once again taken over for military pwposes in the 1830s. However, it quickly regained its original function. Work had to be carried out later to rebuild the dome of the chapel, damaged in a violent storm in 1842.
When the law expropriating Church property was enacted in 1853, the Bishop of the time divided up the enormous kitchen garden into forty plots crossed by two roads. However, the institution did not suffer financially during this period, thanks to the mlmificence of private benefactors.
It was to become a barracks once again in 1858. When the military departed, the Bishop passed the management of the Hospicio to the Sisters of Charity. This was the occasion for a further inaugural ceremony, during which it was agreed that all the orphans would in future bear the name Cabaii.as. This saw the start of the most important period in its history. In 1872 it housed more than five hundred people. However, with the expulsion of the Sisters in 1872 economic aid was cut off and the number of orphans was halved by 1880. This unhappy situation was rectified by the action of the Governor in 1883, and the number of inhabitants rose steadily - 442 in 1887, 672 in 1910.
The growth of the Mexican Muralist movement was a demonstration of national cohesion and identity following the 1910-20 revolution. In the 1930s the Government of Jalisco invited one of its most distinguished exponents, Jose Clemente Orozco, to execute a number of works in public buildings in Guadalajara, where he worked between 1936 and 1939. His murals in the chapel of the Hospicio Cabaii.as, representing the multi-ethnic character of Mexican society and the allegory ofthe Man of fire, are among his finest works.
In 1980 the Government of Jalisco located its newly created Cabaii.as Cultural Institute in the Hospicio, to house schools of arts and crafts, exhibition rooms, and areas for theatre, music, and dance. More recent additions have been a documentation centre and the office of the State Cultural secretariat. The State Government and the National Institute of Anthropology and History are also proposing to install a school of restoration in the Hospicio.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
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Brief Synthesis
Located in Guadalajara in the central region of western Mexico, Hospicio Cabañas was founded at the beginning of the 19th century to provide care and shelter to the needy including orphans, elderly, handicapped and chronic invalids. Architect Manuel Tolsá, designed a predominantly Neoclassical complex on a monumental scale, covering 2.34 hectares. Despite its size, the hospice’s uniqueness relates primarily to the simplicity of its design, specifically its dimensions and the harmony achieved between the buildings and the outdoor spaces. The overall composition is formed by a rectangular plan measuring 164 metres by 145 metres and contains a complex of single-story buildings laid out around a series of twenty-three courtyards varying in size and characteristics.
The hospice’s founder, Bishop Cabañas commissioned a design that responded to its social and economic requirements through an outstanding solution of great subtlety and humanity. The single-storey scale, covered passageways between buildings, and arcades traversing most courtyards focused on the comfort of its residents allowing them to move freely. The light and air provided by the open spaces were intended to promote healing. In addition, it was one of Bishop Cabañas’ objectives to educate residents through the learning of a trade. For example, the hospice’s corridors provided space for one of Guadalajara’s first printing press workshops and throughout the 19th century innumerable texts were published from this location.
The exception to the complex’s uniform height of 7.5 metres is found in along its central axis with the chapel and kitchen. The kitchen is topped by a saucer dome and small lantern. It is the chapel, however, that is the visually dominant feature of the hospice with its imposing dome rising 32.5 metres.
In the late 1930s, the chapel was ornamented with fifty-seven superb frescoes painted by José Clemente Orozco, one of the greatest Mexican muralists of the time. These works are considered a great masterpiece of Mexican art and illustrate both Spanish culture as well as Mexico’s indigenous culture with gods, sacrifices and temples. The focus of the murals is found in the chapel’s dome with the work El Hombre de Fuego (The Man of Fire) which represents the submission of humans to machines.
Currently, the hospice is the home of the Cabañas Cultural Institute and the Cultural Heritage of Humanity. A buffer zone of 18 urban blocks measuring 37.26 hectares surrounds the complex bounded by Federacion Street in the north, Javier Mina in the south, Mariano Jiménez in the east and on the west Calzada Independencia.
Criterion (i):The Hospicio Cabañas is a unique architectural complex designed to respond to social and economic requirements for housing the sick, the aged, orphans, and the needy with an outstanding solution of great subtlety and humanity. The murals painted in the chapel by José Clemente Orozco are considered great masterpieces of Mexican art.
Criterion (ii): The group of paintings in the chapel of the Hospicio, in particular the allegory El Hombre de Fuego (The Man of Fire) is considered to be one of the masterpieces of 20th century mural painting and had profound cultural influence beyond the American continent.
Criterion (iii): This is a unique building dedicated to public welfare assistance and speaks of the exceptional humanitarian spirit of its promoter and producer Bishop Juan Ruiz de Cabañas.
Criterion (iv): The Hospicio Cabañas is an outstanding work of renowned architect Manuel Tolsá, built predominantly in the Neoclassical style, that provided a completely different architectural solution to the conventional design of its time. The restriction of one level to facilitate movement of patients, large open spaces with natural lighting and ventilation to promote healing, and covered walkways between the different modules of the building, whose scale, covering 2.34 hectares, was at that time and still is today considered monumental.
Integrity
The original plan of architect Manuel Tolsá remains intact as the property includes the entire 2.34 hectare complex of buildings designed to house the Hospicio Cabañas. With the exception of the kitchen garden, which was divided into forty plots and bisected by two roads in the 1850s, there has been almost no later addition. At the time of inscription, a management plan was being prepared that included a buffer zone of 37.26 hectares surrounding the complex.
The property is in an earthquake prone area and as a result, seismic reinforcing has been undertaken to protect the buildings, particularly in the columns and artwork in the chapel.
Authenticity
The authenticity of the complex of the Hospicio Cabañas is high. Although no longer a hospice, its current use as the home of the Cabañas Cultural Institute and the Cultural Heritage of Humanity has required minimal change to the design. Modifications included the removal of walls to create a large conference room or theatre to house 199 people. Since 1996, work has been done to reverse changes to the kitchen wing dating from the early 20th century.
Some recent interventions that involved modern techniques and materials necessary for the preservation of the ensemble were carried out after thorough studies. An example of this work is the reinforcing of the roof construction with the replacement of original wooden beams by metal frameworks. Moreover, the columns supporting the chapel’s dome were also reinforced in recognition of the region’s seismic risks. Stabilisation of the murals was required in response to evidence of the plaster parting from the supporting walls.
Protection and management requirements
The property is currently owned by the State of Jalisco and managed by the Cabañas Cultural Institute. It is protected as an immoveable historic monument under the 1972 Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Monuments and Zones which imposes strict controls on interventions. Technical responsibility for its conservation and restoration is under the Ministry of Culture, Government of Jalisco with technical support from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA), both part of the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CNCA) of the Ministry of Education.
The complex presently houses the Cabañas Cultural Institute, and the Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The current operation of the building requires a management plan methodology, in order to strengthen, support and consolidate the organization’s roles and responsibilities. The Cabañas Cultural Institute ’s role as contemporary museum, with both temporary and permanent exhibitions, as well as the show rooms for the works of Maestro. José Clemente Orozco. Both the murals and the building itself need to maintain the conditions of the museum space, in accordance with technical safety requirements and the conservation of collections, without affecting their heritage status.
An urban development plan (1997-98) provides protection for the inscribed property from the surrounding area. This document defines the buffer zone which includes 18 blocks and part of the Plaza Tapatia covering an area of 37.26 hectares.
Long Description
Hospicio Cabañas is a unique architectural complex, designed to respond to social and economic requirements for housing the sick, aged, young and needy, which provides an outstanding solution of great subtlety and humanity. Orozco's murals in the chapel represent in part the most symbolic and characteristic elements of the indigenous culture of Mexico (gods, sacrifices, temples) and for the rest those of Spanish culture (kings, monks, churches). The central feature represents the submission of humans to machines, culminating in the masterpiece Man of Fire .
A sequence of droughts, floods and severe frosts created much poverty and misery in the town, which was founded in 1542. Around 1791 the Bishop of Guadalajara ordered the building of a hospital for the most destitute people, together with a group of lodgings for the workers and an orphanage. This project was taken up by his successor, Juan Ruiz de Cabañas, when he arrived in Guadalajara in December 1796. He requested the authorization of the Spanish Crown to create a Casa de la Misericordia to house the homeless, old people and orphans of the town.
Royal approval was given on 5 September 1803 to build a Casa de Expósitos (orphanage), which would also accept aged men and women, handicapped people and chronic invalids, along with their families, orphans or children of parents incapable of feeding them, as well as poor pilgrims. In Mexico City Bishop Cabañas had met Manuel Tolsá, an architect and sculptor from Valencia who had made some notable contributions to the architecture of Mexico. Tolsá accepted a commission to design the proposed Hospicio, but entrusted supervision of its execution to his pupil, José Gutierrez, who carried out most of the work between 1805 and 1810 (with the exception of the chapel).
The War of Independence interrupted the work, and the uncompleted buildings were used as a barracks and stables, first by the insurgents and then by the Royalist forces, until Mexico secured its independence from Spain in 1821. The Hospicio was not inaugurated until 1829. It was to become a barracks once again in 1858. When the military departed, the management of the Hospicio passed to the Sisters of Charity, and it was agreed that all the orphans would in future bear the name Cabañas. In 1872 it housed more than 500 people. However, with the expulsion of the sisters in 1872 economic aid was cut off and the number of orphans was halved by 1880. This unhappy situation was rectified by the action of the governor in 1883.
The growth of the Mexican Muralist movement was a demonstration of national cohesion and identity following the 1910-20 revolution. In the 1930s the Government of Jalisco invited José Clemente Orozco to execute a number of works in public buildings in Guadalajara, where he worked between 1936 and 1939. His murals in the chapel of the Hospicio Cabañas, representing the multi-ethnic character of Mexican society and the allegory of the Man of Fire , are among his finest works. In the 1980s the Government of Jalisco located its newly created Cabañas Cultural Institute in the Hospicio, to house schools of art and crafts, exhibition rooms, and areas for theatre, music and dance.
The entire complex is laid out on a rectangular plan: all the buildings, which are, except the chapel and the kitchen, single-storey, are ranged round 23 courtyards. The great majority of these are arcaded on at least two sides. The architectural solution adopted by Tolsá for the Hospicio is unique: its roots are to be found in ensembles such as the Monastery of El Escorial in Spain or the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Historical Description
Guadalajara was founded in 1542, on the left bank of a river flowing through a wide valley. Two native settlements nearby were eventually integrated into what became the capital of the Province of Nueva Galicia and the seat of a bishopric.
A sequence of droughts, floods, and severe frosts created much poverty and misery in the town. Around 1791 the Bishop of Guadalajara, Fray Antonio Alcalde, ordered the building of a hospital for the most destitute people, together with a groups of lodgings for the workers and an orphanage. This project was taken up by his successor, Juan Ruiz de Cabaiias, when he arrived in Guadalajara in December 1796. He requested the authorization of the Spanish Crown to create a Casa de la Misericordia to house the homeless, the old people, and the orphans of the town. [Translator's note There is no single English equivalent for this term, since the establishment combined the functions of a workhouse, hospital, orphanage, and almshouse, all of which were separate establishments in Britain.] In his letter to the King he identified the site that had been selected, at a high and healthy location outside the town with an excellent water supply.
Royal approval was given on 5 September 1803 for the building of a Casa de Expositos (orphanage), which would also accept aged men and women, handicapped people, and chronic invalids, along with their families, male and female orphans or children of parents incapable of feeding them (under ten years of age), and poor pilgrims.
In Mexico City on his way to take up his appointment in Guadalajara, Bishop Cabaiias had made the acquaintance of Manuel Tolsa, an architect and sculptor from Valencia who had made some notable contributions to the architecture of Mexico, including the remodelling of the dome and completion of the towers and facades of the cathedral in Mexico City. Tolsa accepted a commission to design the proposed Hospicio, but entrusted supervision of its execution to his pupil, Jose Gutierrez, who carried out most of the work between 1805 and 1810 (with the exception of the chapel).
The War of Independence interrupted the work, and the uncompleted buildings were used as a barracks and stables, first by the insurgents and then by the Royalist forces, until Mexico secured its independence from Spain in 1821. The death of Cabaiias in 1823 was deeply felt by the local people, and the Governor of the State brought pressure to bear on the Church to complete the entire establishment. Work began again in 1828 and the Hospicio was inaugurated the following year.
During the troubled times that followed, the Hospicio was once again taken over for military pwposes in the 1830s. However, it quickly regained its original function. Work had to be carried out later to rebuild the dome of the chapel, damaged in a violent storm in 1842.
When the law expropriating Church property was enacted in 1853, the Bishop of the time divided up the enormous kitchen garden into forty plots crossed by two roads. However, the institution did not suffer financially during this period, thanks to the mlmificence of private benefactors.
It was to become a barracks once again in 1858. When the military departed, the Bishop passed the management of the Hospicio to the Sisters of Charity. This was the occasion for a further inaugural ceremony, during which it was agreed that all the orphans would in future bear the name Cabaii.as. This saw the start of the most important period in its history. In 1872 it housed more than five hundred people. However, with the expulsion of the Sisters in 1872 economic aid was cut off and the number of orphans was halved by 1880. This unhappy situation was rectified by the action of the Governor in 1883, and the number of inhabitants rose steadily - 442 in 1887, 672 in 1910.
The growth of the Mexican Muralist movement was a demonstration of national cohesion and identity following the 1910-20 revolution. In the 1930s the Government of Jalisco invited one of its most distinguished exponents, Jose Clemente Orozco, to execute a number of works in public buildings in Guadalajara, where he worked between 1936 and 1939. His murals in the chapel of the Hospicio Cabaii.as, representing the multi-ethnic character of Mexican society and the allegory ofthe Man of fire, are among his finest works.
In 1980 the Government of Jalisco located its newly created Cabaii.as Cultural Institute in the Hospicio, to house schools of arts and crafts, exhibition rooms, and areas for theatre, music, and dance. More recent additions have been a documentation centre and the office of the State Cultural secretariat. The State Government and the National Institute of Anthropology and History are also proposing to install a school of restoration in the Hospicio.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
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