With her mosaic, gardens and pavilions the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona forms a jewel in the modernistic architecture of Catalonia. This hospital was designed by the architect LIuís Domènech i Montaner that among others designed the Palau de la Música.

The hospital came into existence in 1401 by a fusion of 6 hospitals that were in serious crisis cause of the plague epidemic of 1348 and the aftermath of it. The original name was Hospital de la Santa Creu. It was established in the El Raval quarter in Barcelona in a building where now the Library of Catalonia is settled.

From the beginning of the 19th century there came complaints about the buildings age and the impossibility of expanding to meet the increasing urbanization and the population growth of the city. In the beginning of the 20th century there was a new building established in the Eixample area, thanks to donations of the banker Pau Gil i Serra.

The built started in 1902, and the first phase lasted until 1913. In that period 13 buildings were realized. From 1920 until 1930 the second phase was realized by the architect’s son, Pere Domènech i Roura. In this phase they built 6 more pavilions. In gratitude of the sponsor of the project the name ‘Pau’ was added to the name of the hospital. The name is now officially Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, however it’s popularly called: Hospital de Sant Pau.

The original design had a surface of 145.470m², consisting out of a central building intended for administration and different pavilions. Domènech i Montaner made 48 pavilions divided over two principal axis of a diameter of 50 meters. The axis were situated on the diagonals of the square ground and formed a cross that was the symbol of the hospital and refers to the original building. The plans were eventually just partially executed.

All pavilions were connected through underground galleries so patients could be moved without getting outside. The technical installations are situated in the open air to keep maintenance easy. On the plans were also gardens and small alleys foreseen.

The architect Domènech got help from several artists for the project, under which Pablo Gargallo and Eusebi Arnau, that realized several sculptures, Francesc Labarte, that executed paintings and mosaics and Josep Perpinyà, that did things with wrought iron.

You enter the main building via a broad stairway. The main entrance is focused on the Segrada Familia and is situated in such way the sea breeze could be used to cool the building. People also think that the architect placed the main entrance oblique on the chequered structure of the Eixample area because he couldn’t appreciate the rectilinear forms. This building is, like most of the buildings of the complex, made from red brick stone. Domènech i Montaner used different architectural styles, in the central building we see for example gothic, neo-gothic, Mozarabic and German elements.

Inside the central building there’s a structure of arches and pillars that proposes a garden of medicinal plants, referring to the medical gardens of the old hospitals that grew their own medicines. In the original plans of the Hospital de Sant Pau there was also a medical garden foreseen but was eventually never placed.

Another conspicuous characteristic of the hospital is that male and female patients had to be strictly separated. At the right side pavilions were situated for men that got the names of saints. At the left side pavilions were situated for women that had the names of female saints and virgins. At the main entrance you had the right wing with an entrance door for the male section and at the left wing a door for the female section.

Also remarkable in the vision of the architect from harmony and symmetry is the fact that the pavilions close to the main entrance are smaller than the ones that are further away from it. Pavilions that are situated at the same distance of the main entrance are identical, except for the names of male and female saints.

After lapse of several decades it was again necessary to expand the hospital, as well for the growth in patients as for the technological development. Also the fact the Hospital de Sant Pau was becoming a academic hospital caused the need to expand it for the educational tasks. Around 1950 there were a few new buildings integrated in the complex, under which the Urological institute, a private hospital completely focused on this speciality.

In 1997 the Hospital de Sant Pau was reclaimed as World Heritage site by the Unesco, even though the fact the original plans of Domènech i Montaner were never fully executed.

In 2003 they began with the construction of a new building at the North side of the area. The intention was to move all the services from the modernistic buildings to the new complex. In July 2009 the new hospital was inaugurated. On the roof of block E of this new complex a landing spot for a medical helicopter was constructed that is in use since July 2010.

Meanwhile all medical services are moved to the new complex and the modernistic buildings are being renovated to eventually establish the General-Secretariat of the Unió per la Mediterrània, the union of the countries at the Mediterranean.

The Hospital de Sant Pau can be visited daily and there are several guided tours in Catalan, Spanish, English and French everyday as well. For the time schedule of the tours visit the website of Sant Pau.

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