This web section has been designed as a guide for when you visit our hotel in Barcelona. Below we offer you extensive information on our location in Barcelona, with the areas of interest closest to our hotel. We also include tourist information for the city of Barcelona

The hotel is located in the district of Guinardó, to the north of the Eixample area, right next to the famous Hospital de Sant Pau de Barcelona of Lluís Doménech i Muntaner, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997.

Hospital de Sant Pau

A fine example of Catalonian civil Gothic architecture, it dates back to the year 1404, when the six hospitals then found in Barcelona merged. Given the growth of the city and the progress made in medicine, by the end of the 19th century the Hospital was no longer large enough, and, thanks to the donation of the banker Pau Gil, it was decided to move to a new building. On 18th January 1902 the first stone of the new building was laid. The building took 18 years to complete. In 1930 it was inaugurated with its new name, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, by which it is still known today, when the name of Sant Pau was added to the former name of Santa Creu out of respect for the generosity of the benefactor. The architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1850-1923) was entrusted with the project to make this civil building one of the most relevant of Catalonian modernism.

The architectural site can be visited, with or without a guide. Since 2004, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau forms part of the Modernism Route of the Barcelona Urban Landscape Institute, as a monument open to visits.

There is an information point for further details regarding the Modernism Route, open from Monday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There are activities related to Modernist heritage in general, and to the architecture of Lluís Domènech i Montaner in particular.

Sant Pau is open for guided tours, from Monday to Sunday at 10:15 a.m. (in English), 11:15 a.m. (in Catalonian), 12:15 p.m. (in English) and 1:15 p.m. (in Spanish). Further information is available by phone on 902 076 621, and at the website www.rutadelmodernisme.com. Guided tours in Catalonian, English or French can be booked in advance on any day of the week by ringing 93 256 25 04.

Address

Centre del Modernisme
C. Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167
08025 Barcelona

Near interesting areas

Just a few minutes walk from tourist attractions such as the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) of Barcelona, an unfinished work by Antoni Gaudí. This is found in the Eixample district, just 10 minutes from Hotel Aristol. A fine example of Catalonian modernism. According to data for the year 2004, the Holy Family Expiatory Temple was the most visited monument in Spain, beating the Alhambra in Granada and the Prado Museum in Madrid.

In 1866 Josep M Bocabella Verdaguer founded the spiritual association of St Joseph, which promoted the construction of an expiatory temple dedicated to the Holy Family. Using the donations of its worshippers, in 1881 the Association purchased the land enclosed by the streets Marina, Provença, Sardenya and Mallorca on which to build the Temple. The architect Francesc del Villar presented the initial project, and on St Joseph Day 1882 Bishop Urquinaona laid the foundation stone.

A series of disagreements with the first architect led to Gaudí taking charge of the work and drawing up a new, much more ambitious project. The work is still under construction, with the current completion date, at the current rate of work, envisaged for the year 2065.

During his final years Gaudí practically lived and worked solely for the Holy Family, leaving behind many projects and diagrams when he passed on.

The work currently being carried out to finish the Holy Family respects the original project of Gaudí throughout, with the exception of the details, which are adapted to modern aesthetics and to the style of the artists involved.

Close to Hotel Aristol we find another fine work of Gaudí, the Parc Güell. From the hotel we can take the number 92 bus from Padilla Street, which stops at one of the entrances to the park.