A little further along the Puerta de Aguilar widens into an atrium which signals the façade of the Council House (Ayuntamiento), situated where the old San Juan de Dios Hospital once stood, a place where Cervantes set one of the chapters of his novel 'El coloquío de los perros'. A commemorative plaque placed in the hall is inscribed with a shortened quotation from this novel, spoken by the imaginary dog Berganza, it reads:: "We arrived then, after our recounted expeditions to Montilla, town of the famous a great Christian Marqués de Priego, master of the house of Aguilar and Montilla. They lodged my master because he managed to get lodging in a hospital"

The construction of this building was agreed upon in 1651, an initiative of the Marqués de Priego, so as to house a hospital which was to be attended by the Brothers of San Juan de Dios. The works finished in 1654 and the church in 1662. Between 1765 and 1770 important transformations were made, creating a floor made up of three separate sections: a square, an octagon with four big niches (the main part of the floor), and a rectangle. The Church has a beautiful façade with a crescent arch and pilasters with geometrical decoration.

Both the Convent and Hospital were used by Napoleon's troops during the French invasion. In 1835 it was included in the disentailment of Mendizabal and in 1844 it stopped being a hospital when the hospital was moved to the ex-convent of San Agustin.

The Church was restored several years ago and was dedicated to exhibitions and cultural acts. In other sections the protocol archives are found in which there are documents signed by Felipe III, Felipe IV and Cervantes.