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An angel bids you welcome at the front gate.
The main entrance at top of Ave. Gaudí.
The central reception hall which leads to the rest of the buildings.
One of the many details to be discovered.
A view of the main building from the hospital grounds.
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Images and Text by Gaston
Magrinat. Click on any image for a larger version.
Come take a private Barcelona tour with me through the garden grounds
and the many wonders of the Hospital de La Santa Creu i Sant Pau. The
modernist architect Domènech i Montaner started the project in
1902 with the generous donation of Pau Gil i Serra to the city for a
new hospital. Completed in 1910, it is considered to be one of the most
significant works of Catalan Modernism as well as the architect’s
masterpiece.
Built on an enormous 360-acre site covering nine full blocks of the
“Eixample”, the Hospital Sant Pau is unlike any other hospital
you will ever have visited.
Domènech i Montaner wanted the hospital to
be a place where patients and staff could find solace and healing. He
set out, above all, to avoid the sterile, depressing and institutional
nature of general hospitals. He believed that if the patients were to
recover they needed color, an agreeable environment, fresh air, trees
and a solid sense of the earth.
From the moment you first set eyes upon the Hospital de Sant Pau, you
can see that Domènech i Montaner succeeded. Everywhere throughout
its grounds and 48 pavilions you can experience the natural light, the
vivid colors and the many decorative and allegorical details that make
the Hospital Sant Pau one of the world’s most beautiful and original
architectural gems.
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A saint stands watch over the main entrance gate.
One of the hospital's many pavilions.
A hallway flooded with natural light in main building.
This mural depicts part of the history of the Hospital.
A group of people on their way out. Can you see La Sagrada Familia?
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