Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site: Nostra Senyora de Montserrat (9)

The second of the two larger buildings to be restored was built between 1905 and 1912. The original use was for General Surgery for females.

The presence of stone sculpture is very important throughout the site. Capitals, floral details, corbels and structures all designed by the architect himself complete the varied decoration of the complex. Details such as delicate flowers embedded in the brick walls, niches, floral crowns on the capitals – each one different, despite their apparent uniformity – and reliefs on ventilation shafts are a sample of the varied work of the stonemasons.

The details are superb. All the shrines, angels, heads of angels and gargoyles in the form of animals on the complex were the work of Gargallo.

Source: All the information in these Sant Pau posts is taken from the admission booklet. 

How to get there:
Metro: L5 Sant Pau / Dos de Maig or L2 to Sagrada Familia and walk up Avenue de Gaudi
Bus: H8, 19, 20, 45, 47, 50, 51, 92, 117, 192

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Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

16 thoughts on “Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site: Nostra Senyora de Montserrat (9)”

  1. Is it unusual for an architect to also design details? He must have invested a huge amount of time and diverse creativities in this wonderful complex. A small have you!!

    1. I think at that time there were a few of these architect,s including Gaudi, who designed every minute detail about their buildings. Very precise!

  2. I can well-imagine that arriving at this hospital for treatment must have been very calming for the patients. Even though once in their hospital bed, they could not see all this detail, knowing the care that had been taken in the construction must have made them trust the care that they would receive once inside.
    A stark contrast to many of our own Victorian Gothic monstrosities, which can only have given rise to thoughts of doom!
    Best wishes, Pete. x

    2. The insides were pretty nicely done too with soft pastel tiling and the lovely large circular dayrooms. Instead we got cold white tiles!

    1. As you can see by the number of posts I am doing about this site I really fell in love with it, a couple of hours flew by as I wandered around, often retracing my steps as I realised that each building although looking the same, had entirely different features. The overall unity of the site is breath-taking.

    1. Well I hope you will pay attention to them all – it is after all your fault that I went to this site 😉 😉

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