Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pa, Catalan for Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul. The complex built between 1901 and 1930 in Barcelona.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu

El Raval


Behind the Mercat de La Boqueria stands the Gothic Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu, which was once the city’s main hospital. Founded in 1401, it functioned until the 1930s, and was considered one of the best in Europe in its medieval heyday – it is famously the place where Antoni Gaudí died in 1926. Today it houses the Biblioteca de Catalunya, with its distinctive Gothic arches, and the Institut d’Estudis Catalans. The hospital’s 15th-century former chapel, La Capella, shows temporary exhibitions.

Entering from Carrer de l’Hospital, you find yourself in a peaceful courtyard garden. Up a sweep of stone steps is the members-only Catalan national library. Approaching the complex from Carrer del Carme or down a narrow lane from Jardins del Doctor Fleming (the little playground), you arrive at the entrance to the institute, which was once the 17th-century Casa de Convalescència de Sant Pau.

Transportation

  • metro: Liceu

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby El Raval attractions

1. Institut d’Estudis Catalans

0.04 MILES

The Institute for Catalan Studies sits in the 17th-century Casa de Convalescència, once part of the Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu. The building,…

2. La Capella

0.05 MILES

The Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu's 15th-century former chapel is now an exhibition space, with frequent temporary exhibitions.

3. Mercat de la Boqueria

0.14 MILES

Barcelona's most central fresh-produce market is one of the greatest sound, smell and colour sensations in Europe. It's housed in a packed-out Modernista…

4. Centre de la Imatge

0.14 MILES

The Centre de la Imatge is an exhibition space that forms part of the Palau de la Virreina. It hosts mainly – but not exclusively – photography shows.

5. Palau de la Virreina

0.14 MILES

A rare example of post-baroque building in Barcelona, the Palau de la Virreina is a grand 18th-century rococo mansion (with some neoclassical elements)…

6. Rambla del Raval

0.16 MILES

This broad boulevard was laid out in 2000 as part of the city's plan to open up this formerly sleazy neighbourhood, with some success. Now lined with palm…

7. Església de Betlem

0.16 MILES

On La Rambla with Carrer del Carme, this church was constructed in baroque style for the Jesuits in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to replace a…

8. Museu de l’Eròtica

0.17 MILES

Observe what naughtiness people have been getting up to since ancient times in this museum, with historical relics such as Indian bas-reliefs showing…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "spain/barcelona/el-raval/attractions/antic-hospital-de-la-santa-creu/a/poi-sig/375063/1320667",
      "destination": "El-Raval",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Spain",
      "city": "Barcelona",
      "neighborhood": "El-Raval",
      "position": "superzone"
    }