MODERNIST ENCLOSURE OF SANT PAU
A true modernist city in Barcelona offering a wide range of cultural activities
The modernist enclosure of Sant Pau is one of the most impressive works of the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. First of all, its artistic and architectural value is indisputable, to which we must add the social significance of the building. In fact, at the end of the 19th century, a project was set up to replace the Santa Creu hospital, which had become dilapidated. The aim was to create a modern, state-of-the-art structure that would be able to care for the most needy. Domènech embraced this great cause and imagined a magnificent garden where patients could find a certain serenity that would make them forget their illness for a while. Admire the building at the entrance, all in exposed brick, with its wonderful mosaics! The tower at the top, with a clock, dominates the whole enclosure and seems to watch over the residents. You will observe some stone angels, carved by the hand of Pau Gargallo. Domènech and his son designed all the buildings as islands in an ocean of vegetation, connected by a network of galleries. Start by visiting the Sant Salvador pavilion, which presents the history of medicine in Barcelona, and then move on to the Sant Rafael pavilion, where you can see the interior as it existed after its construction. In 1997, the Sant Pau enclosure, an emblem of Catalan modernism, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Oh, and they charge €4 for their audio guide. I wonder what’s on that audio guide if there’s not much to see there in the first place.