Casa Battllo by Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona
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Bus tours with local english speaking guide of Barcelona's Gaudi buildings
Casa Batllo, which stands at Passeig de Gracia 43 in Barcelona was originally built between 1875 and 1877. In the year 1900 the building was acquired by Josep Batllo i Casanovas, who gave the building the name, that it retains to this day.
Casa Batllo was not built by Antoni Gaudi. What we can marvel at today, is actually Gaudi's refurbishment of the original building for the owner Josep Batllo. From 1904 to 1906 Gaudi transformed Casa Batllo to a degree that brought him international fame. Today this house is one of the buildings listed as a UNICEF World Heritage site along with several other buildings in Barcelona by Gaudi that are Gaudi UNICEF World Heritage sites .
Two attic floors were added to Casa Batllo during the refurbishment, and a fantasy roof tower crowns this masterpiece
For the renovation of Casa Batllo Gaudi designed a splendid fairytale-like rounded front façade with a multi-coloured glittering surface of fish scale inspired ceramic pieces. Casa Batllo also has elegantly rounded balconies that resemble bird nests - or human skulls depending on your mood!
The front facade is a work of art that has been compared to the style in Monet’s water lilies painting. You could say that Casa Batllo was “painted” by Gaudi. He actually stood on the street and gave directions to the workmen, when the front was being decorated.
Inside Casa Batllo Barcelona Gaudi reorganised the rooms, added a new viewing gallery, unified the courtyards and the existing staircase in order to add more natural light and ventilation.
Even the new doors in the building were made in the rounded style that became Gaudi's trademark.
The fireplace room
That Gaudi found much of his inspiration in the beauty of nature can clearly be seen in the swirling shell design of the main room's ceiling.
Main room and gallery of Casa Batllo. Only since 2002 in connections with the celebration of Gaudi's 150th birthday has Casa Batllo been open to the general public.
Back balcony on the rear facade of Casa Batllo
The building porter was also given a "Gaudi" space to sort the mail in!
