Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is probably the most beautiful hospital I’ve ever visited.
The original name of the hospital was Hospital de la Santa Creu (Hospital of the Holy Cross) when it was founded in 1401. The name “Sant Pau” was later added after Mr. Pau Gil, a millionaire banker who was born in Barcelona, donated money to build the new buildings and complex between 1901 and 1930. So the full name of the former hospital is Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, known in English as Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul. The history of the hospital was recorded by the mosaic design in one of the existing seminar rooms.
For his generosity, Mr. Pau Gil was honoured by having his name on the ceiling of the Administration block.
Original pink tiles from 1901-1930
I mentioned the word “former hospital” because it was operational until 2009. The charity hospital moved to the new building in the plot of land next to the existing structure.
Hospital de Sant Pau was constructed in the modernista style by architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner with his trademark of using mosaics. We could not believe a hospital can be so pretty!
We took a 1 hour guided tour which cost €16 per pax. It turned out to be money well spent in my opinion. We were told stories and facts which probably not many people know about. For example:
1) There is an underground tunnel system connecting the 6 buildings including the administration block, operating rooms block, male and female wards and the nuns’ quarters.
2) If you walk around the hospital, you will see a lot of tiled walls. And if you take a closer look, the corners of those tiled walls are curved. We were told that this allowed the nuns back then to easily clean the wall tiles. How clever!
3) The St Raphael pavilion is the most intact pavilion with original decorations dated back to 1901-1930. The other pavilions have had modifications / refurbishments carried out so it is not possible to trace back the history in them any longer.
4) Our guide explained that before antibiotics was invented, the nuns had to clean, disinfect and sterilise the floor and walls inside the pavilion to prevent patients from getting infections. The wall tiles had to be constructed with curves at the corners so that they can be easily cleaned (see the link here and point 2 above?).
5) In the pavilion, we saw a lot of green mosaics and tiles being used. We were told that since the hospital was a Catholic hospital and green colour in the wards symbolises ‘green for hope’ in Catholic, it was used to bring hope to the patients.
6) In the same pavilion, one will see blue tiles and mosaics in the existing toilet. However, before it was converted into a toilet it was a bath-room. The bath-room in the wards were used by the nuns to bathe the patients. Therefore the colour blue was to symbolise water. It was literally a BATHROOM.
7) Once we were outside, we stood next to the former operating theatre building. Back in the days when there was limited and unstable supply of electricity, the operating theatre used frosted glass to allow maximum natural light into the room. Frosted glass also prevent people from peeping into the operating theatre. Brilliant!
8) The hospital now houses an art school and the Biblioteca de Catalunya (National Library of Catalonia). Some of its rooms are rented out for companies to hold seminars and even for people who want to hold their weddings. Eeerrr…. it may be really beautiful but would you want to hold your wedding in a former hospital??
With the extensive use of marble and mosaic, Hospital de Sant Pau is truly an amazing piece of architecture and art wherever you go within the complex.
Hospital de Sant Pau is currently being restored for use as a museum and cultural center. It still gives tours several times a day in different languages during this period. It is my sincere recommendation that a visitor to Barcelona take some time to tour around the hospital. I cannot emphasize how beautiful it is (for a former hospital) and you do get a break from all the quirky Gaudi architecture all around Barcelona.
If you do wish to visit, remember to make an advance booking for the guided tour online here since I believe the guided tour group is quite small. Here are some more photos for you to enjoy.
Centre: Former nunnery
Reflections of glass panels – those wavy and bubbly ones are the original glass panels!
Have you visited this former hospital in Barcelona? Also read my tips on visiting the Sagrada Familia here.
I can’t believe this stunning building used to be a hospital! So much better than plain white boring walls in typical hospitals.
We almost walked right past it because it was so pretty on the outside we didn’t think it was the right place lol!
This place is awesome. I can’t believe I have never heard of it. Those ceilings are just stunning, and to think it used to be a hospital. I love visiting UNESCO world heritage sites and am adding this to my wish list!
I don’t think many people actually know about this place because of the other more famous places and monuments like Sagrada Familia and Gaudi architectures. Definitely add it to your wish list 🙂
I have never heard of Hospital De San Pau but have now added it to my list of places to visit when I go to Barcelona! That ceiling looks incredible, so much detail 🙂 Happy to hear there is a 1 hour guided tour, will take this 🙂 The artistic walls and decorations is breathtaking and looks enchanting 🙂
The guided tour is definitely recommended because there are not many signs around to explain the history and also all the gossips 🙂
I generally love adding UNESCO sites to my itinerary, so I’m surprised I never heard of this hospital when I visited Barcelona a few years back. The building is so stunning and intricate that it is difficult to believe it used to be a hospital! Looks like it was worth every one of those 16 euros it cost to get in!
It actually took me a bit of digging and research to discover this place – like to go a little bit off the beaten track when I can – and we didn’t regret paying for the guided tour 🙂
Stunning building, way more interesting than what hospitals look like nowadays! I’m going to Barcelona in February but we will only have one day there unfortunately. This will be my first time in the city, so I want to check off the tourity stuff first… 🙂
If only hospitals nowadays look like this right? lol. Such a shame that you only have 1 day in Barcelona, there’s so much to see!
What a gorgeous place! I’ve made it most places near Spain but have yet to go to Spain at all so Barcelona is of course on my to-do list. Pinning this for the future!
Spain is such a lovely place! I wasn’t expecting much from Barcelona as a big modern city frankly but was pleasantly surprised. I would love to go back there again 🙂
And I thought it was a cathedral! Since it aesthetically appeals to me I could walk around in those corridors for hours, but knowing that it used to be a hospital, it would probably creep me out just a tad bit so I would probably wrap things up sooner than I would have wanted to.
Lol! Just try not to think about it because once you get there, you probably won’t even notice anything traces of it being an ex-hospital.
How beautiful! There are so many old buildings out there with interesting stories to tell.
Literally at every turn of the corner, especially in Barcelona!
I can’t believe this used to be a hospital! It’s absolutely beautiful! I was just in Barcelona for a day- next time, I’ll have to check this out.
Hi Anya, please do. It is an absolutely amazing ex-hospital!
What an impressive place!! This architecture is just stunning! Never heard about this place before and I would love to visit it now 🙂
Many people never knew about its existence that’s why I guess the place is not crowded 🙂
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