San Simon Island. Buildings

General description

San Simón archipelago gives its name to the cove formed within the Vigo estuary. It is an island with centuries of history, where its buildings were involved in different events and periods. In 1999, San Simón and San Antón Islands were declared a Site of Cultural Interest, and thanks to that, began a rehabilitation phase. Trying to achieve harmony between the natural wilderness and the gardens of yesteryear, they remodeled the existing buildings without damaging the surroundings.

The chapel in the center of San Simón Island is a 19th-century building, which corresponds to the period of construction of most of the lazaretto's buildings. Mentioned by the troubadour Mendinho, this chapel would be in the surroundings, where the medieval burials have been found.

In front of it, after a small open courtyard, there is the Center of culture and sports, used as accommodation for the second-class passangers during the lazaretto period. However, at that time, it was a concentration camp, sheltering prisoners, and after the northern front fell, it housed Asturian and Leonese prisoners. It was also the residence of Méndez Núñez's home.

The current café-restaurant is closing this patio form the northern side. This old lazaretto building preserved the three original glazed bodies, always maintaining throughout history a function as a space for kitchens and dining rooms. During the time of the concentration camp, it became a room for elderly inmates imprisoned since 1939.

Next to the wharf facing Cesantes and behind this complex is the house of the guard and administration. It had already been in operation since the time of Lazareto. During the time of the prison colony, it served as the visitors' room.

At the main entrance towards the exit of the estuary is the courses and seminars building, which during Lazaretto and the concentration camp served as large residential pavilion for prisoners. It housed more than six hundred people who spent the night on the ground in precarious conditions. However, during the orphanage period, this building was used for workshops, warehouses, and collective dormitories.

To the left of this building is the multipurpose auditorium, which currently constitutes an open and versatile space for cultural events. It used to house patients from the "clean" lazaretto, and during prison times, it was used as an infirmary, where the prisoners assisted other inmates although some doctors were present. On the opposite side, visitors can see the power station, currently used as a public toilet. There is an original sign indicating that this station was from the early 20th century and used to meet the needs of Lazaretto.

One of the most striking buildings is the Stella Maris residence, which during the Lazaretto period, served as a residential and administrative building, housing the first-class passengers, offices, and apartments for the mayor, the chaplain, and medical staff. During the prison period, it also housed the prison offices and housing of the director and officers, and sometimes became a residence for prisoners with certain privileges. During the period of the Méndez Núñez home, it had classrooms and the teaching staff offices.

Near this building is the bathhouse, at the same location as the former laundry rooms from the lazaretto period and where prisoners used to wash themselves and their clothes during the prison period.

A bridge connects both islands. The island of San Antón had the "dirty" lazaretto, where people with infectious diseases placed in quarantine as not to infect the rest of the patients. The building of the eastern lazaretto was the barrack of the outstanding military man in charge of the concentration camp, and later, it was the clinic of the Méndez Núñez home. Currently, it is an interpretation and documentation center with a library focused on the history of the place, the historical memory, and the culture of the sea.

There is also the cemetery and ossuary, which was built in the Lazaretto time to bury the dead from the quarantine; it has some stone sarcophagi and old graves.