Barcelona

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Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau

C/Sant Antoni María Claret 167

Doctors in their white coats mingle with recovering patients and camera-wielding tourists in the green and pleasant grounds of Domènech i Montaner’s ‘garden city’ of a hospital, a collection of pavilions abundantly adorned with the medieval flourishes that characterise the architect’s style. The hospital, which is composed of 18 pavilions and connected by an underground tunnel system, is a short walk from the madding crowds at the Sagrada Família. Domènech i Montaner built the hospital very much with its patients in mind, convinced that pleasant surroundings and aesthetic harmony were good for the health. Unfortunately, the old buildings don’t entirely suit the exigencies of modern medicine: by the end of 2006 all patient care will be phased out and moved to a blocky white monstrosity of a building on the north side of the hospital grounds. The public has free access to the grounds; guided tours (€5) are offered every morning.

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