On August 8, 1412, Mossén Jaume Aldomar, a priest and beneficiary of the Cathedral of Barcelona, founded a hospital under the advocacy of Sant Sever. He donated the adjoining houses and gardens, created the rents and issued the necessary statutes to establish the Hospital de Sant Saver, whose mission was to look after the impoverished sick clerics from the city of Barcelona. Located on Calle de la Palla, it was an independently run institution with four administrators whose positions were renewed annually.

The facade of this building is the result of multiple renovations, though its most original elements constitute one of the few examples of Renaissance architecture in Barcelona. The construction of the facade dates to the first half of the 16th century, when it was decided to expand the hospital’s facilities in order to meet the sanitary and spiritual needs of its patients. It was then that the single-nave church with a square-plan chancel was built. The area of worship was later completed with an east-facing chapel dedicated to the Virgin and a west-facing square-plan, cross-vaulted sacristy that was adjacent to the cloister.

The Sant Sever altarpiece, made in 1541 by Portuguese painters Pere Nunyes and Enrique Fernández, was placed in the chancel. Two centuries later, the altarpiece was moved to the nearby town of Olesa de Bonesvalls. It remained there until 1929, when Duran i Sempere recognised its significance and fragile condition, prompting its relocation to the Museo Diocesano de Barcelona.

The grand entrance gate leading into the church was built during the renovation of 1562, a date which can still be seen inscribed on the facade along with “Hospitale sacerdotum sancti Severi”. The gate was adorned with a Serlian window, a combination of a central semicircular arch flanked by two shorter sidelights – one of the few examples of this Renaissance architectural motif in Barcelona. The window displayed an alabaster sculptural group composed by the figure of Sant Sever and two kneeling clerics on either side. These three figures were made by Pere Oller, an artist active between 1395 and 1442 who worked in several Catalan cathedrals. The group remained on the facade at least until 1937, as evidenced by a photograph from that year preserved at the Arxiu Fotogràfic de Barcelona. Currently, the praying figures are in the collection of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya; however, the location of the figure of Sant Sever has not yet been identified.

One of the most distinctive and unique elements of the building is the “androna”, an interior passage running between the main gate and the nave created during the Renaissance period to facilitate circulation. Its original design was however altered during later renovations.

Probably instigated by the fire that broke out in the building in 1748, the building saw significant changes to its fabric from the mid-18th century; access points on the ground floor were added, as well as the porticoes surrounding the cloister, which distributed the above rooms for the patients.

In the early 19th century, there were private tenants living on the premises of the hospital. This new residential function resulted in the creation of upper floors and a new entrance separate from the hospital’s. The worship areas were also expanded, with the addition of a choir integrated into the first residential floor. Additionally, the crypt, created in 1615 to bury deceased patients, was enlarged. 

The hospital continued functioning as a private charity until 1913, when the bishopric took over due to a lack of resources. In 1925, the hospital left its location on Calle de la Palla and moved its activities to the Seminario Mayor de Les Corts. After the Civil War, its premises were gradually adapted for residential and commercial use, housing for a period of time the antique dealer Agustín Mendoza. In the 1950s, the Church finally abandoned the building, which was subsequently acquired by the Sesplugues family.

In 2021, an extensive renovation project began at the church and ecclesiastical rooms of the Hospital de Sant Saver with the main objective to hold the Casacuberta Marsans art collection.

The space has three separate levels: the ground floor, where the church and cloister are located, an upper floor, giving access to the choir, and the crypt in the underground floor.

The restoration of the building was carried out by Garcés – de Seta – Bonet Arquitectes, who brought into this project their extensive experience restoring cultural spaces in Barcelona.

The idea behind the project was to recover the memory of the space, evoking its original nature and function through the creation of a central and unifying element: the staircase. This connects the three floors while also serving as a grand pulpit that offers multiple perspectives into the collection. Made of iron, it is monumental yet light due to the transparency of the perforated planks. The same material was used to recreate the lost vaults once covering the nave’s ceiling.

The project sought to maintain the character of the different spaces in their current state without concealing the many structural interventions or the wear of the materials. At the same time, the use of iron highlights any new elements, making a clear distinction between what was found and what has been added. The result is an expressive yet bare and austere container of the site’s history that has reclaimed the character of a space of worship and devotion, now dedicated to art.