Hospital Sant Pau, Barcelona

The full name of this hospital is "Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau", but we usually call it simply "Sant Pau". You may find odd to visit a hospital just for tourism... but if you do it, you'll see is worth it! The complex is a masterpiece of the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, and in 1997, together with the Palau de la Música Catalana, it was declared World Heritage by UNESCO for its "singular architectural and artistic beauty".

You'll see more pics at my travelogue: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/i/97e0f/

Update Jun 2011: currently the old hospital complex is still being restored, so virtually all the buildings are closed, as is the main central garden and other parts are under scaffolding. The main facade is already restored and you can access the church from the side entrance. In any case, as it's just a 10 minutes walk from Sagrada Familia, still is worth a visit, even if only for the exterior part.

There are guided tours, from Monday to Sunday:
English: 10.00 - 11:00 - 12:00 - 13:00
Français: 10:30
Castellano: 11:30
Català: 12:30

I did the guided tour a few weeks ago, you get inside one of the pavilions and they give very good explanations about the pace and its history. However, the most beautiful interior part is closed, and according our guide its restoration works will be not finished until 2013.


Info office is open from 9:30 to 13:30, you can get your tickets and other info about the Modernista Route there.

Pre-arranged visits can be organised for any time and day by phoning +34 933 177 652. Further information is available through the website www.rutadelmodernisme.com

4 more images

The city hospital was designed by Domenech I Montaner in 1902, it is a mix of Moors brick design and modern style, structure is adorned by ceramics. For me it was one of the most impressive modern trend buildings in Barcelona, despite of a long way here from very central part of Barcelona (let say, Rambla), it is worth visiting.

Here are quite much green areas around instead of more constructions of hospital. I have read that most of corridors are made as undergrounds to safe green area around.

2 more images

Domenech i Montaner is responsible for the exsquisite architecture of Hospital ed la Santa i de Sant Pau. This is a World Heritage Site and when you see it you can, at once, understand why. There are 16 pavilions, each different but each exceptionally beautiful.

At the time when I visited it was still a fully functioning hospital with ambulances whizzing in and out and doctors in white coats wandering from one building to the next. As such, admission to the site was completely free and it was a slightly weird feeling to be clicking away with my camera whilst people were being stretchered in and out!!! Plans were afoot and the hospital facilities were in the midst of being moved to another site. It may be that this rtansition is now complete and that the site has become a museum dedicated to Mr Montaner, medicine, hospitals etc...
Apparently there was a guided tour that one could take but I never knew about it so cannot comment. Whilst I am sure it would have been informative, it was actually rather nice to simply enjoy the grounds as the only tourist (as opposed to a patient!)

Looking at La Sagrada Familia from the grounds of Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. You can see Gaudi's beautiful Basilica from the grounds of the hospital where he died after being run over by a street tram in 1926.

2 more images

This is a beautiful hospital that looks very church like in structure. It was designed by the architect Domenech y Montaner and started in 1902 and fully completed in 1930. Here at this hospital just a few blocks from Sagrada Familia Antoni Gaudi died in 1926 after being run over by a tram. This was just a block away from our hotel also. I found it ironic and kind of chilling that you can stand on the grounds of the hospital where Gaudi died and see his Basilica just a few blocks down the street.

Maybe the most amazing thing is that in spite of it being a very interesting tourustic spot in town it is still running as an hospital today! Consistently with the requests made directly by the costumer, lot's of climate improvements have been made over the years. But they were done in such a way that they would leave the outside of the building untouched, thereby preserving its imposing and majestic appearance.

Still under construction ...

Despite of being within viewing distance of La Sagrada Familia, or perhaps because of it, many people pass by Hospital de Sant Pau, a beautifully ornated building.

Luis Domenech I Montaner began designing a new hospital in 1902. His innovative scheme consisted of 26 attractive Mudejar-style pavillions set in large gardens, as he believed that patients would recover better among fresh air and trees. Today it leaves us with this amazing structure where we wondered off for a while. We just kept on looking above our heads and examining all rhe wall, trying not to miss any of the beautiful details.

Also believing art and colour to be therapeutic, Luis Domenech I Montaner decorated the pavilions profusely. The turreted roofs were tiled with ceramics and the reception pavillion embellished with mosaic murals and sculptures by Pau Gargallo.

Sometimes there are places you want to see, and in advance you know that you won't be disappointed once you're actually there. The Hospital de la Santa Crue i de Sant Pau is one of those places.

We stood in front of this amazing building and learned a few nice facts that we didn't know and surprised us a little bit. Listen, although the hospital's current building date from the 20th century, the Hospital de Sant Pau was founded in 1401 when six small medieval hospitals merged. The hospital's former buildings near the center of Barcelona date from the 15th century, and now house an art school (Escola Massana) and National Library of Catalonia, but that's maybe something for another visit to the city.

In spite of being an interesting touristic spot of town, it is still running as an hospital today. We immediately saw the dfferent pavillions which are decorated with mosaics depicting mythological characters and some Catalonian history episodes. The building is protected by UNESCO.