HOSPITAL OF LÁZAROS

The hospital of lázaros, also known as the Malataria de San Lázaro or Santa María del Camino — the church from which it took its name — is mentioned in a will of 1421, as well as in a charter of 1490 which reads: "...eu Jacome de Vigo notario e procurador dos leserados de Santa María do Camiño...". The exact location of the hospital is not known with certainty. Some believe that the houses adjoining the sanctuary façade served as the hospital; others, such as Artaza, believe those structures are later and that the hospital would have been situated at the rear of the sanctuary. It is on record that residents of Muros bequeathed part of their assets to the lepers. The Catastro de Ensenada (1753) notes in Muros a hospital "called the Lázaros hospital, which consists of three houses that serve to shelter and care for any poor leper when one is present, and when there is none, their rents, along with some foral revenues and the proceeds from some plots of land, are applied to the maintenance of the other hospital, all being under the patronage of the said town."

Documents referring to this hospital are preserved in the Historical Archive of the Town Hall.