Puerta del Hospital de la Latina in Madrid, Spain

There is something delightfully disorienting about stumbling across a 500-year-old Gothic doorway in the grounds of Madrid’s School of Architecture. Surrounded by modern university buildings and the comings and goings of students, the ornate stone portal looks as though it has taken a wrong turn somewhere in the city. In fact, it has—but quite a long time ago. Known as the Puerta del Hospital de la Latina, this is the surviving entrance to the Hospital de la Concepción de Nuestra Señora, founded in 1499 by Beatriz Galindo and her husband, Francisco Ramírez. Galindo, a celebrated scholar of Latin and tutor to the children of Isabella I of Castile, was known as “La Latina,” a nickname that eventually gave its name to both the hospital and one of Madrid’s best-known neighborhoods. The hospital stood at the corner of Calle de Toledo and Plaza de la Cebada, in the heart of what is now the La Latina district. Its flamboyant Gothic architecture incorporated Mudéjar influences and was attributed to the master craftsman Hazan. The elaborate entrance featured a pointed arch, delicate Gothic canopies, heraldic shields, and sculptures including the biblical embrace of Saint Joachim and Saint …

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