From the not too distant past this masterpiece, designed by Antoni Gaudí, attracts a lot of attention.
Formerly an apartment block, (who wouldn’t want to live there?) now a museum, it is rather expensive to visit and another place you might want to book online beforehand to avoid the queues.
Casa Batlló is located at 43 Passeig de Gràcia, in easy walking distance of Plaça de Catalunya. There are two other modernistic buildings in this block which are equally impressive, though perhaps not as eccentric as this one.
Construction started in 1877 and is a remodel of a former house. Also known as the house with the dragon roof, or even ‘house of bones’ the facade is covered in colourful tiles.
One of the strangest residential buildings in Europe, this is Gaudí at his hallucinatory best. The facade, sprinkled with bits of blue, mauve and green tiles and studded with wave-shaped window frames and balconies, rises to an uneven blue-tiled roof with a solitary tower.
TRAVEL WORDS 
Incomparable beauty. It has been long since I visited. Thanks, Jude.
Eccentric and hallucinatory are perfect descriptors. It looks like something you would expect in a fairy tale 🙂
There are many Modernist buildings in Barcelona, though it is true that Casa Batlló is maybe the most striking one.
Casa Milá is another amazing building by Gaudí.
But there are also other Modernist architects that are often forgotten, and nevertheless contributed much to the development of this style, such as Domènech i Montaner, author of Casa Fuster, Palau de la Mùsica and Hospital de Sant Pau, for example.
I hope you had time to appreciate in depth Modernist architecture in Barcelona 🙂
I found a few other delights in the city and loved the hospital! Thank you for your lovely, informative comment.
Hopping around through yours reminded me. https://restlessjo.me/2013/12/05/thursday-lingering-look-at-windows-week-47/ and https://restlessjo.me/2014/04/20/on-top-with-gaudi/
Did you post yet on Hospital de la Santa Creu? I loved that building but it was behind billboards when we were there.
I’ll go and have a look. Dodgy broadband connection today 😦
Not done the hospital yet, I have to say it was my favourite place – absolutely stunning and no crowds!
You will live in such a God forsaken place! 🙂 🙂 Sorry- just jealous, and my normal grumpy self.
It was fine until before Christmas when we had to get a new router, since then it has been up and down like… I get so frustrated not being able to look at blogs. Or upload my photos. And I keep going into spam too 😦
Tee hee! I’ll leave you there 🙂 🙂
You must be feeling much better!
Still pretty ropey actually, with aches in ribs and places I wouldn’t expect, but I’m smiling through it. (despite dire news from James today) Still playing catch up but I will email later.
What a creative mind he had . . . . I wonder if it was as loved when it was being built as it is today?!
Interesting thought. There are a couple more modernist buildings in the row which are rather more conventional from the outside, but pretty flamboyant inside. I’ll put up one of those next.
Oh my! How fabulous! I would absolutely love to live there! (Too many exclamation marks there, but I think this deserves them 🙂 )
Where would we be without the exclamation mark 🙂
I don’t know! Struggling to express ourselves sometimes… 😉