The Fundació Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau dates from 1401, when the mediaeval City Council and the Cathedral Chapter commissioned the building of the Hospital de la Santa Creu, now the site of the National Library of Catalonia, to make healthcare a social project. In the early 20th century, banker Pau Gil’s legacy and Barcelona City Council’s contributions enabled construction work on a new hospital to start in 1902 in order to meet the healthcare needs of a city with a booming population. The new hospital project, commissioned to the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, was officially opened in 1930 under the name of Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. The set of pavilions designed by Domènech have become an essential point of reference in terms of the cultural heritage of Barcelona and of the world since being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.