Old Hospital de la Santa Creu, Barcelona, Gothic architectural complex in El Raval, Spain
The Old Hospital de la Santa Creu is a Gothic and Renaissance architectural ensemble in El Raval, Barcelona, made up of four wings arranged around a central courtyard. Each wing has two floors with vaulted ceilings and open galleries facing the courtyard, giving the whole complex a cohesive and ordered layout.
King Martin I ordered the construction in 1401 to merge six smaller city hospitals into a single building. The hospital remained in use for more than five centuries before closing in 1926, after which its wings were gradually taken over by cultural and academic institutions.
The National Library of Catalonia uses one of the medieval vaulted halls as its main reading room, where visitors can sit and read beneath stone arches from the 15th century. The courtyard between the wings is open to the public and serves as a resting spot for locals and students throughout the day.
The main entrance is on Carrer de l'Hospital, within easy walking distance of the Gothic Quarter and the Ramblas. The courtyard is freely accessible during the day, while some parts of the complex can only be visited during the opening hours of the institutions housed there.
A well-preserved 18th-century anatomical theater sits inside the Royal Academy of Medicine section of the complex, still holding its original wooden benches and a central dissection table. It is one of the few spaces of this kind still standing in Europe.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
