The Church and Hospital are supposedly located at the spot where Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma II met for the first time in 1519, which was then the beginning of the causeway leading to Iztapalapa.

[1] In his last will, Cortés states that he wanted the hospital to be built for the sons of the Aztec warriors who had perished in battle during the Conquest of Tenochtitlan.

In 1715, the hospital published the Regia Academia Mariana Practica Medica to promote more professional practices in the field of medicine in New Spain.

On the frieze of the upper corridors of the south side have a series of small and grotesque faces, which are popularly and mistakenly considered to be those of Cortés’ relatives.

[3] The hospital was originally designed by Pedro Vázques, and Cortés left a number of farmlands in his will for the benefit of the institution.

Cortés died before the hospital building was finished, and the colonial government of New Spain hired Alonso Pérez de Castañeda to replace Vázques.

[4] The small dome resting on the church tower has an image of the Archangel Michael that is often mistaken as a portrait of Cortés.

[1] However, in August 1882, there was a proposal to move the remains and place them next to those of some of the heroes of Mexican War of Independence, but this caused an uproar with some trying to desecrate the tomb in the church.