Sant Pau Recinte Modernista

The Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau is the great modernista building most visitors to Barcelona have never heard of, and that is exactly why it is such a pleasure. Designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the architect of the Palau de la Música Catalana, and built in the early decades of the twentieth century, it is not a single building but a garden city of pavilions, each crowned with domes and towers clad in coloured tiles, laid out across several blocks of the Eixample at an angle to the street grid. Domènech believed that light, fresh air, gardens and beauty helped patients heal, and he designed accordingly: wards were spread among trees and flower beds and linked by underground tunnels so that patients and staff could move between them without crossing the gardens. The hospital worked here for the best part of a century, until the medical services moved to a new building next door in 2009. After a long restoration, the historic complex reopened as a cultural site, and together with the Palau de la Música it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. The visit begins at the Administration Pavilion, whose entrance hall and grand staircase are among the most beautiful interiors in the city, with pink-and-gold mosaic vaults, sculpted columns and stained glass. Upstairs, the former boardroom, a hall of carved stone and ceramics, is a showstopper. From there you walk out along the garden avenues, look into restored pavilions that explain the history of the hospital and the restoration, and walk part of the tunnel network. On a sunny morning, with the domes glittering above the orange trees, it is hard to believe this was ever a hospital.

The site works on several levels. For architecture lovers, it is the most complete statement of Domènech i Montaner's ideas, and comparing it with Gaudí's work, a few minutes away, shows how differently the two great modernista architects thought: Domènech's buildings are richly decorated but rational, symmetrical and built for function, while Gaudí's are sculptural and personal. For history lovers, the exhibitions on medicine and public health, and on how the hospital was funded by a banker's bequest, give real context. And for everyone else, it is simply one of the most peaceful places in central Barcelona, with gardens, benches and space to breathe, which is rare in this part of the city.

Visiting well: self-guided tickets with an audio guide or app let you go at your own pace, and guided tours add the story behind the decoration. Allow about ninety minutes. Mornings are calm and bright; late afternoon light warms the tiles beautifully. The site is rarely crowded compared with the Gaudí houses, so you can usually buy on the day, though booking online is easy and avoids any queue. Much of the visit is outdoors, so bring a hat in summer.

Getting there could not be easier for anyone visiting the Sagrada Família: walk up Avinguda de Gaudí, the pedestrian avenue that runs diagonally from the basilica, and the hospital's entrance appears at the far end, framing a view back to Gaudí's towers that is one of the best in the city. The Sant Pau-Dos de Maig and Guinardó-Hospital de Sant Pau metro stations are also close. Pair it with the basilica in the same half-day, or continue up towards the Bunkers del Carmel for a view over the whole city. It is a quiet favourite of locals and repeat visitors, and it deserves far more attention than it gets.