The Mental de la Santa Creu was inaugurated in 1889. It was built on the grounds of a 50-hectare estate donated by an anonymous benefactor.
At the time it had a capacity for 700 patients and consisted of twelve perpendicular wards.
The project was inspired by Dr. Pi i Molist, a pioneering psychiatrist in the treatment of mental illness in Spain. The building was surrounded by a property of more than 100 hectares of fields, pasture and agricultural land.
For Dr. Pi i Molist, the hospital was an avant-garde institution, where the sick, far from the urban environment, could have a suitable environment surrounded by nature that would favor their treatment and social integration.
However, after a century of operation, the Institute closed its doors in September 1987.
The Mental de la Santa Creu today
At present, only three pavilions remain of the original construction, occupied by the Nou Barris Library and the District Headquarters. The fully restored old church also remains as a small sample of what the institution used to be.
Now the building between palm trees and columns has become a stage for fairs, congresses, multitudinous events, live concerts, handicraft markets and different cultural and artistic exhibitions.
The Institute housed so many patients who spent their days going around in circles in the midst of their fears and in their treatments in search of recovery.
Today it is a place of activity and movement where thousands congregate to enjoy music and culture.
