According to a legend, the Chapel of the Christ of Health was built to honor of a miracle. It is said that in the year 1750, a horse race was held on the “del Cristo” street and one of the participants of the race, could not stop his horse in time, falling off the cliff.
Don Tomas Mateo Prats, who at that time was the Secretary of the Interior, invoked the Christ of Health and the young man who fell down the precipice was saved thanks to his prayer. In gratitude, Don Tomás Mateo Prats ordered the construction of the Chapel of the Christ of Health.
Later studies by Don Adolfo de Hostos confirmed that the young man did not survive the fall of the precipice and that he really died, much less did the horse survive.
Whatever the true story, the important thing is that we have a simple monument of small dimensions, but very beautiful, a real gem.
It is one of the most important patrimonies of Puerto Rico, built in 1753 by the military engineer-architect Francisco Mestre.
Originally it had terracotta and white colors in the ornamentation of its friezes and arches.
The chapel includes a vaulted niche, a small sacristy and a portico with arcades. It is built in brick and masonry on the south wall of the city, which shows its importance, since it was the exception to the rule that forbade building atop defensive walls.
