Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau
( Hospital de Sant Pau )
The former Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Catalan pronunciation: [uspiˈtal də lə ˈsantə ˈkɾɛw i ˈsam ˈpaw], English: Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul) in the neighborhood of El Guinardó, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, is a complex built between 1901 and 1930. It is one of the most prominent works of the Catalan modernisme architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The complex was listed as a Conjunto Histórico in 1978. Together with Palau de la Música Catalana, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Composed of 12 pavilions connected through long underground galleries within its large green space, Sant Pau is the largest complex built in Art Nouveau style. It was a fully functioning hospital until June 2009, when the new hospital opened next to it. It ...Read more
The former Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Catalan pronunciation: [uspiˈtal də lə ˈsantə ˈkɾɛw i ˈsam ˈpaw], English: Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul) in the neighborhood of El Guinardó, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, is a complex built between 1901 and 1930. It is one of the most prominent works of the Catalan modernisme architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The complex was listed as a Conjunto Histórico in 1978. Together with Palau de la Música Catalana, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Composed of 12 pavilions connected through long underground galleries within its large green space, Sant Pau is the largest complex built in Art Nouveau style. It was a fully functioning hospital until June 2009, when the new hospital opened next to it. It underwent restoration for use as a museum and cultural center, and re-opened in 2014. An important historical and architectural masterpiece, the building also offers workspace to high-profile social organizations such as the WHO, Banco Farmacéutico, Barcelona Health Hub, EMEA, UN-HABITAT and more. The cultural center also has a historical archive where records and documents of remarkable occurrences related to the hospital and the city can be found. The archives are open to visitors and offer information to users and researchers with an information and reprographics service, in addition to a reading room.
Interior of the hospitalAlthough the hospital's current 26 buildings[1] date from the 20th century, the Hospital de la Santa Creu (the last part of its name, "Sant Pau", was added in honour of the banker, Pau Gil, who paid for the new buildings in the 20th century) was founded in 1401 when six small medieval hospitals merged.[2] The hospital's former buildings near the center of Barcelona date from the 15th century, and now house an art school (Escola Massana) and the Biblioteca de Catalunya (National Library of Catalonia).
The initial building's construction started in 1401 and was completed in 1450. Later, in the 17th century, the Casa Convalescència building was added to the complex.[3] With the expansion of the city and weariness of the medieval buildings, the construction of a new hospital designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner began in 1902. Domènech's original plan had 48 buildings, 27 of which were actually constructed.
In 1991, the hospital was awarded the St. George's Cross by the Generalitat de Catalunya.
In 2003, a new hospital building was erected to the north of Domènech i Montaner's Modernista pavilions, where almost all departments moved. However, a few departments such as the Blood and Tissue Bank, the radiography department and the physical therapy department remain in some of the old buildings.
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