Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu

Lonely Planet review

Gaudí died at this 15th-century hospital, which now houses Catalonia's national library (take a look at the magnificent vaulted reading room) and an arts school. It has a delightful, if somewhat dilapidated, colonnaded courtyard with a chirpy café. The chapel is used for temporary exhibitions.

The library is the single most complete collection of documents (estimated at around three million) tracing the region's long history. In its medieval heyday, the hospital was deemed one of Europe's best, where the sick got (for the times) comparatively good care and abandoned children and lunatics were also taken in - presumably they were housed in separate wards. Construction began in 1401 during the reign of Martì; parts of what you see today were added in the 16th and 17th centuries. The hospital lies on what was the main entrance to the city from the road to Madrid.

As you enter the courtyard, you can't help being reminded you are in El Raval. Dilapidated, it serves as a public park to all and sundry: round old ladies gossiping and walking their darling dogs, the occasional snoozing drunk, and outmoded young punks having a snack.