Costa Rica, 8/2021 – Cartago – Mirador Sanatorio Durán

The Finca Sanatorio Durán, translated as the Duran Sanatorium Estate, was named after the primary doctor and founder, Carlos Durán Cartín. The hospital was created in the early 1900s as a tuberculosis ward, a disease that Durán’s own daughter had been suffering from. As time went on, the hospital began accepting patients with other ailments including leprosy and mental illness. The Sisters of the Charity of Santa Ana came to the sanitarium to assist the doctor in caring for the growing number of patients.

By the 1960s, larger and more advanced hospitals were established. With the threat of tuberculosis waning and the mentally ill patients transferring to better-equipped hospitals, Sanatorio Durán shut down.

We were told that after the hospital closed down, the building was used as an orphanage and a prison for a short period of time. A large-scale eruption by the neighboring Irazu volcano caused irreparable damage to the building, and it was permanently closed in 1973.