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Barcelona offers a wide range of interesting options all year round and opens its doors to everyone. Make the most of the sunshine to go for a stroll and take a dip in the sea on one of the city’s accessible beaches. Experience Gaudí’s nature with your hands, add a sign-language tour or an audiodescribed show to your plans… Do you need any more ideas? You’ll find them with the SEARCH FACILITY or on the SUMMARY for accessible places of interest!

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Sant Pau Recinte Modernista

Sant Pau Recinte Modernista

The Modernista Sant Pau Complex was built between 1905 and 1930 and designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner as a garden city for nursing the sick. After being used as a public hospital for a century, its newly refurbished pavilions shine again in all their splendour. A visit to this exceptional architectural ensemble is a unique experience.

By the late 19th century, the old Hospital de la Santa Creu in Barcelona's Raval neighbourhood needed to be relocated because it had become obsolete and too small. The result was an ambitious project inspired by the breakthroughs in health and hygiene at the time. It is important to remember that this institution has always been associated with charitable work, welfare and the latest discoveries in healthcare.

This is Europe's foremost art-nouveau complex and an icon among Barcelona's dazzling array of landmarks which embodies the city's innovative spirit. It was awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1997 and now its architectural and artistic values have been brought to a wider audience with the new use of its pavilions. The former hospital complex is now a knowledge campus and the headquarters of international organisations including the European Forest Institute, the Casa Àsia, the Global University Network for Innovation, and the United Nations University Institute on Globalization, Culture and Mobility.

A visit to this magnificent complex allows you to delve into history, art and the present day. The exhibition space in the Sant Salvador Pavilion takes you on a journey through the history of medicine in Barcelona and one of Europe's oldest healthcare institutions. Sant Salvador Pavilion marks the start of a recommended route around the outdoor spaces of the Art Nouveau Site that reproduce the garden city model designed in the early 20th century. As you stroll, admire the building's lovely exteriors. Domes, roofs, façades, sculptures and stained-glass windows are the most outstanding elements.

You can also enter the Sant Rafael Pavilion and see its interior exactly as it was designed at the start of the 20th century. Moreover, you can take the underground tunnels communicating the various buildings and visit the most representative heritage spaces of the Administration Pavilion.

General details


Address: Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167 (08025). Barcelona
Phone: 935 537 801
Web site: www.santpaubarcelona.org
E-mail: recintemodernista@santpau.cat
Opening time: Monday to Friday, 10am to 2.30pm. Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays, 10am to 7pm.
December 25th, closed.


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Accessibility details


The Sant Pau Modernista Ensemble has no architectural barriers and is fully wheelchair accessible.

The general itinerary varies slightly because visitors with reduced mobility have to use the lift to avoid some flights of steps. The staff inside the complex are aware of the needs of disabled visitors and are on hand help them find alternative routes. Entrances to the pavilions and areas inside the complex have gently sloping ramps.

Disabled visitors are entitled to reduced admission. Holders of the disability card from the Catalan Government’s Department of Welfare are entitled to free admission.

Guide dogs and service dogs are admitted throughout the complex and grounds.

Adapted tours are offered for groups of people with special needs. Pre-booking essential.

For enquiries about accessibility and bookings: Tel. 935 537 801, or e-mail recintemodernista@santpau.cat

Motor impairment
How to get there
Adapted public transport: in addition to the buses, which are accessible, there are two Metro stations nearby which have lifts, Sant Pau-Dos de maig (L5) and Sagrada Família (L2).

Entrance
The entrance has level access and is in the middle of a corner block in the Eixample district. It has an iron gate that is 6m wide which is always open during visiting times. This entrance leads to a large courtyard with a reception area a little further in. It also has level access and automatic glass doors.

Reception
The reception desk is dual height: 75 cm and 115 cm.
Lockers are available.

Mobility inside the complex
Two wheelchairs are available for hire from reception.
The floor surface varies depending on the area: cement, tile or carpet in some of the pavilions and inside the lift.
The itinerary at certain points offers alterative routes so visitors can avoid taking the stairs.
The exhibition elements are set at a suitable height for wheelchair users.
There are seats where visitors can rest throughout the complex.

Lifts
All the lifts are adapted. There are staff on hand to assist visitors who need to use them.
The doors are automatic and 90 cm wide.
Th lift button panels are in Braille and relief lettering and set at a height of 70 cm. There is a grab bar next to them.
The lifts have voice announcements and emit an acoustic signal upon arrival at floor.

Toilets
There are several adapted toilets throughout the complex although not all of them have the wheelchair pictogram.
The cubicle door is 90 cm wide.
All the toilets have grab bars (two fold-down bars and a fixed one).
There is space under the washbasin to provide wheelchair users with frontal access. There are baby-changing facilities.

Restaurant and cafeteria
The restaurant and cafeteria have level access. There is table service.

Auditorium
The auditorium is in the Pau Gil Hall. It is accessed by a lift.

Shop
The shop is located at street level and the entrance has level access.
The display and exhibition cases are set at a suitable height for wheelchair users.


Last update: 18/07/2023

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