Barcelona: Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau

The main entrance

The Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Hospital of the Holy Cross and St Paul) was originally founded (as the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau) in 1401 by the merger of six earlier hospitals. By 1901 it was clear that it was unable to keep pace with the growth of the city and the advances in medicine: a new hospital was necessary. The new hospital was funded by a bequest from the banker Paul Gil who wanted it to bear his Christian name - hence the addition of San Pau. The architect was Luis Domenech i Montaner.

By the end of the 20th century history was repeating itself and the 1902 hospital no longer fitted the needs of modern medicine. Plans were developed for a new hospital (now known again just as the Hospital de San Pau) to be built on an adjacent site. Domenech i Montaner's buildings we designated as a historic artistic monument (similar to being listed in the UK I suppose) and in 1997 as a UNESCO World Heritage site. As the new hospital was built, functions and departments moved into it, and in2009 a comprehensive restoration process began. It opened in its current guise as a museum and cultural center in 2014.

First to be built of the buildings you see today, in 1902, was the entrance pavilion with its tall slender tower. As you enter through the gateway you are immediately struck by its height and by the lovely red brickwork and elaborate decoration.

The visitor entrance is off to the right, with a wonderful decorative panel over the door.

The entrance route takes you underground and you emerge in a rectangular ward with a disaply at ground level and a ribbed ceiling covered in blue ceramic tiles. It is a little disorientating - it's not entirely clear where you are or what the overall shape of the hospital is.

At the far end, on the left, is a light and day room with a wonderful high ceiling with beautiful decoration.

You emerge into a large paved area (at the back of the main entrance) and you suddenly begin to understand the scale and design of the hospital. The central building directly in front, once the main operating theatre, is flanked by six pavilions of broadly similar design.

This is a group of buildings on the right ...

... and here is more detail of the beautiful facade of the main building. Note the dragon sculptures..

The pavilions dealt with difficult categories of patient and/or different medical specialisms. The one we entered through proved to be reasonably typical, although not all have yet been restored and one or two are now used for research, educational and cultural activities.

The spaciousness of the site is striking - it is like a village - and the buildings are surrounded by gardens and arranged up the slope of a hill. The latter creates a cooling flow of air and was done with the needs of the patients on mind. Below ground, the pavilions are connected by a vast network of underground passages.

The final stage of the visit is into the entrance pavilion. You wander through an array of spacious halls with extravagantly decorated ceilings. This is the entrance hall.

This is the ceiling of a hallway going off to the right.

In the main hall on the first floor, the feeling is a of a Spainish palace with elaborate stone work and columns.

Finally, a little overwhelmed, we staggered round to the exit and another wonderful mosaic panel. Above it is a statue of Paul Gil.

Rating: five stars. Simply wonderful.

Useful tip: we took the Metro to the Hospital Sant Pau station and found ourselves at the new hospital. It took a 15 minute walk around the perimeter to reach the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. The better route is to take the metro to Sagrada Familia and walk up the Avinguda Gaudí, which leads straight to the entrance. Obviously you should factor is a visit to the Sagrada Familia as well!