Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site

Sant Pau Recinte Modernista is the hospital Barcelona built when its medieval one gave out, and it is now visited as architecture rather than used as a ward. The money came from Pau Gil i Serra, a Catalan banker living in Paris who died in 1896 and left his estate to build a new hospital placed under the patronage of Saint Paul. He drew forty-eight buildings; twenty-seven were built, and only sixteen of those follow his Art Nouveau design. Monday–Sunday 09:30–18:30 from April through October; Monday–Sunday 09:30–17:00 from November through March.

The operator describes the site as twelve pavilions standing in green space and joined by a kilometre of underground galleries, and the visitor route takes in a selection of them rather than all. It begins in the hypostyle hall, the hall of columns that once held the hospital's emergency service, and drops into the tunnel system that carried patients between buildings out of the weather. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing. Closed on 25 December. General self-guided admission is €18 until 14:00 and €17 after 14:00.

The operator publishes three figures, one for each way of seeing the site. A self-guided visit is given as 45 to 60 minutes. The same route taken with the interactive audioguide is given as 60 to 90 minutes. A guided tour is given as 75 minutes. This guide records 90 minutes as the planning figure, which is the top of the operator's audioguide range and the length a visit tends to reach once the gardens are walked rather than crossed. General self-guided admission is €18 until 14:00 and €17 after 14:00.

The site opens every day of the week, so the usual Monday problem of European museums does not apply here. The hours change with the season: 9.30 to 18.30 from April to October, and 9.30 to 17.00 from November to March, with last access half an hour before closing in both. Monday–Sunday 09:30–18:30 from April through October; Monday–Sunday 09:30–17:00 from November through March. The entrance and all areas on the visitor route are wheelchair accessible. Ramps and lifts provide access to the visitor spaces; lift controls include visual numbering, Braille and raised markings.

The general self-guided ticket is 18 euros before 2 PM and 17 euros after it. A guided tour is 21 euros, or 5 euros for children aged 3 to 11. The audioguide is an add-on to the self-guided ticket at 4 euros. General self-guided admission is €18 until 14:00 and €17 after 14:00. The entrance and all areas on the visitor route are wheelchair accessible. Ramps and lifts provide access to the visitor spaces; lift controls include visual numbering, Braille and raised markings. Two wheelchairs are available to borrow free of charge from the entrance desk.

The address is Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret 167, in the Guinardó edge of the Eixample, and no car is needed to reach it. Buses H8, 19, 47, 117 and 192 stop nearby. The visitor entrance is at Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret 167, 08025 Barcelona. Use Metro L5 to Sant Pau–Dos de Maig, or bus H8, 19, 47, 117 or 192. Parking is listed at Carrer de los Castillejos 328 and Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret 214. Ramps and lifts provide access to the visitor spaces; lift controls include visual numbering, Braille and raised markings.

Three things catch people out. The first is closing: last access is 30 minutes before the door shuts, which in the November-to-March season means 16.30, and the cheaper after-2 PM self-guided ticket tempts a late arrival into a visit that gets cut short. The second is luggage. Under-16s must be accompanied by an adult. Only guide and assistance dogs are admitted. The entrance and all areas on the visitor route are wheelchair accessible. Two wheelchairs are available to borrow free of charge from the entrance desk. Accessible toilets and rest areas are available along the route.

The operator's site does not publish a photography policy, so nothing is recorded here about tripods, flash or filming, and it is worth asking at the entrance desk rather than assuming. What can be said is where the pictures are. Morning gives the pavilion façades along the eastern side of the grounds and leaves the main front in shade. The underground galleries are dim and long and read better as a receding perspective than as a subject. Accessible toilets and rest areas are available along the route. A hearing loop, 10 portable neckloops, a tactile map, Braille leaflets and NaviLens navigation codes are available.