Santa Creu Hospital
The Hospital of Santa Creu was founded in 1401, as one of the oldest hospital institutions in the world. Its origins dates back to the end of the 10th century, when it functioned as a pilgrim’s hospital and asylum. The city of Barcelona, had decided to centralize all its hospitals into a single one as early as the end of the 12th century, but it was only in 1401 that this project was finally carried out. In 1401 the four foundation stones of the new building were laid. The reason for having four instead of one foundation stone was due to the four poweful Barcelona institutions involved. The first stone was laid by King Martà I, the second one by Queen Maria de Luna, the third one by Jaume de Prades on behalf of the prince, and the fourth one by Bishop Joan Armengol and the Councilors on behalf of the church and the city.
The headquarters of the new hospital were established in the Raval neighbourhood, outside the city walls, in an area of fields and orchards. The hospital housed the poor, the orphans and the mentally ill. Construction began from a rectangular floor plan comprising two storeys around a cloister. In 1406 were erected the cloister wings, built on rib vaulted galleries which opened onto the patio through a screen of pointed arches. In the interior, the structure of the gothic naves is different in the upper and lower storeys. The lower storey housing today the Santa Creu-Sant Pau Library is covered by lowered vaults; the upper storey, where we found the Library of Catalonia, is covered by a wooden gable roof supported by diaphragm pointed arches.
The chapel of the old hospital, completed in 1444, now is exhibition hall. The original structure of the canon Colom hospital was used to build this structure. The complex also features two monumental stairways, built from 1585, which communicate with the patio in the upper storey of the building. Adjacent to the western nave stairway is the hospital pharmacy, built in the second half of the 17th century. The last building is the Convalescent Home, built in 1668, now head offices of the Institute of Catalan Studies. The building is organized around a rectangular courtyard, which contains pottery painted by Lorenzo Passoles. The cross on the Solomonic column at the center of the cloister, by Bernat Vilar, dates back to 1691. Another unique building, dating back to the 18th century, is the Royal Academy of Medicine, the old Surgery College, an institution founded by the King Martí I in 1402. During the 19th and early 20th century, Barcelona saw a sharp increase in population. The difficulty of restoring a medieval building made it necessary to transfer the hospital to a larger area, located on the outskirts of the city. To this purpose was built the modernist Hospital de Sant Pau. The old hospital however, saw the last hours of the architect Antoni Gaudí on, 7 June 1926. From 1929 the buildings of the old hospital were restored, to a new, cultural use, and some institutions established here their head offices: The Santa Creu-Sant Pau Library, The National Library of Catalonia, The Catalan Studies Institute, The Massana School, The Royal Academy of Medicine and the Royal Academy of Pharmacy. Text from Catàleg del patrimoni arquitectònic històrico-artístic de Barcelona. Barcelona: l’Ajuntament, 198?.
June 2013
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Adolf Florensa i Ferrer (1889-1968). Barcelona : Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2002 CONEJO DA PENA, Antoni. Assistència i hospitalitat a l’edat mitjana. L’arquitectura dels hospitals catalans: del gòtic al primer renaixement. Director: Maria Rosa Terés Tomàs. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona. 2002. (Tesi doctoral consultable a la biblioteca) DANON, Josep. Visió històrica de l'Hospital General de Santa Creu de Barcelona. Barcelona: Fundació Salvador Vives Casajuana, 1978 El Hospital de la Santa Cruz y San Pablo. BCN: Políglota, 19--? GARCIA I DOMÈNECH, Rosa M. La Casa de Convalescència (16291680), seu de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans. Barcelona : Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 1995 Institut de Tecnologia de la Construcció de Catalunya. Anàlisi tècnica i funcional del patrimoni immobiliari municipal. Barcelona: l’ Ajuntament, 1982. Vol. 1 L'Hospital de Santa Creu i de Sant Pau : L'Hospital de Barcelona. Barcelona : Gustau Gili, 1971 VILARRUBIAS, Felio A. Noticia histórico-arquitectónica de los edificios del antiguo Hospital de la Santa Cruz y Casa de Convalecencia de San Pablo de la ciudad de Barcelona : 1401-1928. Barcelona: la Diputació , 1969