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Sarrià-Sant Gervasi · 25

Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova

Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova is the upper part of the old municipality of Sant Gervasi de Cassoles: a church on the site of a medieval chapel, Gaudí's Bellesguard, a former asylum turned science museum and villa gardens open to the public.[1]

Five stops show it: a farmhouse turned civic centre, a rebuilt church, a villa garden, a science museum and a house by Gaudí. They are five different uses of one slope across more than four centuries.[2][3]

The neighbourhood covers the upper and oldest part of Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, an independent municipality until it was annexed to Barcelona in 1897. The name joins the chapel of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, documented in 987, with the later devotion to the Mare de Déu de la Bonanova.[4][5][1]

It has two sectors: the original Sant Gervasi nucleus and la Bonanova, which developed once a road linking Sant Gervasi with Sarrià was built around 1890.[1]

Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova (neighbourhood 25) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi: les Tres Torres, el Putxet i el Farró, Sant Gervasi - Galvany, Vallvidrera, el Tibidabo i les Planes, Sarrià.

Where the name comes from

Etymology: disputed · 33% disputed[5][1]

Sant Gervasi comes from a rural chapel dedicated to Saints Gervasius and Protasius, twin martyrs, documented as early as 987.[5]

La Bonanova comes from popular devotion to the Mare de Déu de la Bonanova, 'the good news'; by the 18th century this devotion had displaced the veneration of Saints Gervasius and Protasius.[1][5]

The origin of Cassoles is uncertain: it has been linked to isolated houses ('cases soles'), to kilns that made cooking pots (cassoles) or to 'casules', small houses; Joan Coromines read cassola as a small basin or pool on the streams coming down from Collserola.[5]

The neighbourhood belongs to the district of Sarrià - Sant Gervasi. Its centre is the old nucleus of Sant Gervasi de Cassoles around the street of that name; the lower sections of that nucleus fall in Sant Gervasi - Galvany.[4]

Before the neighbourhood

In 987 the chapel of Saints Gervasius and Protasius is documented; the 1359 hearth census counted only seven houses, and in 1789 the rector Gaietà Llaró described scattered farmhouses among woods and vineyards.[5]

King Martin I bought the tower of Bellesguard in 1408 and gave it that name, 'beautiful view'; Gaudí built the present house between 1900 and 1909, incorporating remains of the medieval castle.[6]

How the streets were made

Passeig de la Bonanova follows an old path between Sarrià and Horta; in 1864 the provincial council made it a road, in 1870 a bridge was built over the Torrent d'en Mandri, and the straight layout was completed in the 1890s.[7]

The village formed around the church and the road leading to it, which became Carrer de Sant Gervasi de Cassoles; the population rose from 376 in 1842 to 7,032 in 1887.[4]

Dates that changed it

  1. 987 the chapel of Saints Gervasius and Protasius is documented.[5]
  2. 1245 the Romanesque church of la Bonanova holds parish status.[3]
  3. 1408 King Martin I buys the tower and renames it Bellesguard.[6]
  4. 1897 Sant Gervasi de Cassoles is annexed to Barcelona.[4]
  5. 1900 canonical coronation of the Mare de Déu de la Bonanova (8 September).[3]
  6. 1900–1909 Gaudí builds Bellesguard.[6]
  7. 1918 Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí designs the garden of La Tamarita.[8][9]
  8. 1936–1962 the war devastates the church of la Bonanova, rebuilt between 1942 and 1962.[3]
  9. 1981 / 2004 the Museu de la Ciència opens in the former asylum and reopens as CosmoCaixa.[10][11]
  10. 2007 Vil·la Florida opens as a civic centre (31 March).[2]
  11. 2026 an L9 sinkhole forces the evacuation of eight buildings (7 July).[12]

People and collective life

Josep Domènech i Estapà

He designed the Asil de Santa Llúcia, today the CosmoCaixa building.[10][11]

Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí

He designed the garden of La Tamarita in 1918 for Alfred Mata, developing there his idea of the Mediterranean garden.[8][9]

Josep Azemar i Pont

In 1904 he turned the farmhouse of Vil·la Florida into a modernista house.[2]

Institutions

Església de la Bonanova

A chapel to Saints Gervasius and Protasius from the 10th century, a parish from 1245, and a church rebuilt between 1942 and 1962 on Plaça Bonanova.[3]

Vil·la Florida

A farmhouse with a tower from 1603, a modernista house from 1904 and a civic centre since 31 March 2007; since 2014 it has also housed the Sant Gervasi - Joan Maragall library.[2]

CosmoCaixa

A science museum of the La Caixa Foundation in the former Asil de Santa Llúcia, opened as the Museu de la Ciència in 1981 and reopened under its present name in 2004.[10][11]

Struggles that left a mark

The L9 sinkhole and the residents' lawsuit

Demand: As of 9 September 2026, those affected by the sinkhole were preparing a collective lawsuit against the Generalitat and the City Council over the works permit; about 90% of those affected were taking part.[13]

Outcome: No ruling reported as of 3 October 2026.[13]

What can still be seen

Torre Bellesguard

Gaudí's house of 1900–1909 on the remains of the medieval castle; a square plan of 15 by 15 metres, 19.5 metres high, with a four-armed cross on top. Open to the public since 2013.[6]

Jardins de la Tamarita

A garden by Rubió i Tudurí from 1918 with ramps and stairs beside the Frare Blanc stream, around a tower rebuilt in 1919.[8][9]

What disappeared

Villas of Passeig de la Bonanova

Passeig de la Bonanova once had villas on both sides; around 40% of them were demolished in the 1970s and 1980s.[7]

The neighbourhood today

Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova had 26,801 residents in 2026, a density of 120 residents per hectare, a census-section mean income of €43,217 in 2023, 223.4 hectares, and 18.2% of residents held non-Spanish nationality.

Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 18.2%

What is changing

On 7 July 2026 a sinkhole opened during construction of Metro line L9 and eight buildings with 93 flats on Carrer de Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, Carrer de Rubinstein and Carrer de Teodora Lamadrid had to be evacuated. According to reports of 7 September, some residents had already returned; those at Teodora Lamadrid 3 and Rubinstein 2 and 4 (18 homes and 7 businesses) must wait until early 2027 after a second cavity was found on 31 July.[12]

As of 9 September 2026 those affected were preparing a collective lawsuit against the Generalitat and the City Council. No ruling had been reported as of 3 October 2026.[13]

Sources for this page

Dates, figures and historical claims are linked to the records used for this page.

  1. [1] Viquipèdia (2026). Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  2. [2] Viquipèdia (2026). Vil·la Florida. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  3. [3] Viquipèdia (2026). Església dels Sants Gervasi i Protasi i de la Mare de Déu de la Bonanova. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  4. [4] Wikipedia (2026). Sant Gervasi de Cassoles. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  5. [5] Viquipèdia (2026). Sant Gervasi de Cassoles. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  6. [6] Viquipèdia (2026). Torre Bellesguard. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  7. [7] Viquipèdia (2026). Passeig de la Bonanova. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  8. [8] Viquipèdia (2026). Jardins de la Tamarita. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  9. [9] Ajuntament de Barcelona (1996). Barcelona informació, no. 10 (Jan-Feb 1996), p. 14. Accessed: 2026-10-09.
  10. [10] Viquipèdia (2026). Museu de la Ciència de Barcelona. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  11. [11] Viquipèdia (2026). CosmoCaixa Barcelona. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  12. [12] Tot Barcelona (2026-09-07). Dos mesos del socavón de la L9 en Sant Gervasi: «Es un viacrucis». Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  13. [13] Ara (2026-09-09). The neighbors of the L9 sinkhole will also sue the Barcelona City Council. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  14. [14] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Padró municipal d'habitants (pad_mdbas) — població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  15. [15] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2021). Densitat de població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  16. [16] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2023). Renda disponible de les llars per persona. Seccions censals. Accessed: 2026-07-17.

Last reviewed: 3 October 2026 · 16 sources consulted

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