Institut Pere Mata

The Institut Pere Mata is a psychiatric hospital campus on the northern edge of Reus, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and built between 1897 and 1912. It is considered one of the most important examples of Modernista architecture outside Barcelona, and one of the most architecturally ambitious psychiatric facilities in Europe from that era.

The complex consists of multiple pavilions arranged across a park-like campus, each with decorative tilework, ornate ironwork, and architectural details that would be out of place in most modern medical facilities. One pavilion is no longer in medical use and is open for public visits; the rest of the campus is still an active hospital. The building shows Domènech i Montaner at full creative ambition, unconstrained by urban lot size, and the result is genuinely extraordinary. It is about 2 km from the old centre — a short taxi ride or a 25-minute walk.

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A story
The Institut Pere Mata predates the better-known Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona by several years, and shares its organisational principle: instead of a single large hospital block, Domènech i Montaner designed a campus of separate pavilions, each with its own garden. The idea was that beauty and green space were part of the treatment.