Jul 10, 2018
Casa Battlo
Our apartment was only 1.3 KM away so that was an easy morning walk on June 7th. We had pre purchased skip the line tickets for the earliest morning time slot so that we could avoid the crowds. The tickets were expensive at 21.5 euro each for a total of $60.65 CAD for both of us, the same price that we paid for our Vatican tickets. However this tour gives you a headset to use in your preferred language that includes what looks like a smart phone attached which works as an augmented video reality guide. This device allows you to view what the particular area or room that you are in as how it was back in the day filled with furniture, no other people there and showed how windows opened and so very very many other special things. All the while listening to a description to what you are seeing. Certainly worth more than what we paid for our entrance fee. They say to allow an hour there, we were there for at least 2.5 hours. The place is fascinating. Casa Battlo was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2005. At the end of this post I will give you a very special link which we received as a thank you for our visit so that you also can experience the magic of Gaudi and Casa Battlo.
Needless to say that Colin took all these photos hand held without his professional equipment. This is the main room or living room where the family would receive their guests.
You enter and walk up this curved staircase, note the handrails. Perhaps like a serpent and then the skin effect on the wall. Remember Gaudi got his ideas from nature.
An alcove where perhaps a young lady met a beau and enjoyed the fireplace. Of course there was a chaperone seated across from them. This was all designed by Gaudi as well as the furniture which he built himself.
The inside of the salon. With the video guide we saw furniture in the room as well as how the windows opened ( very very clever ) and more. I loved the view over the main street of Barcelona at the time and now.
Now that is a ceiling.
Note the swirls in the ceiling perhaps like a seashell and the light fixture like a flower.
The four glass panels on the right rotated for air circulation.
I signed the guest book ” Contessa & Colin Jewall /June 7, 2018 / Kelowna, BC Canada / Amazing home, beyond words !! “
Pure Gaudi genius, all about perspective. I believe that this was at least five stories high ( here we only see two stories ) and yet depending on where you looked at it, from the bottom or middle, it all appeared to be the same. At the bottom the windows were larger as were the tiles which were spaced further apart. Part of the reason was to give more light on the different levels. Gaudi had taken everything into consideration which was why the tiles at the top were a darker blue that those lower down. I truly wish I could repeat all that I had learned that day but it is just not possible.
So much detail. The family had the main part of the house but there were a few apartments rented out. This is the door to one of them. Each one was different with a letter used as the address. Gaudi had even made a mold of his hand to make the door knobs perfectly fit a hand thus making the door easy to open.
A hallway in the servants area.
The roof above the servants area. These are some of the chimneys for the house. Everything had to be extraordinary in Gaudi’s world.
It looked like inlaid precious stones but it was smooth.
The spine of what some call the dragon along the front of the roof.
An example of how the video worked, there is no one on the screen even though the room was full of people in reality.
Do you think we enjoyed our time inside?
I love that flower effect on the building. Those balconies look like skulls.
From Wikipedia…..”The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinosaur. A common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of centre, terminating at the top in a turret and cross, represents the lance of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia, Gaudí’s home), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon.”
The building to the left of Casa Battlo is referred at the Chocolate House. A family who had owned a chocolate business resided there and there are tours of the home. Alas we had no time but the house is very nice on the outside.
Of course there is the ever present gift shop in places like this. We definitely wanted a memento of Gaudi and his work. We settled on a small colored glass piece for our coffee table based on Gaudi’s art. I will have to make a point of taking a photo to show you. It is certified as authentic Gaudi handmade in Spain. We were tired and it was time to relax for a bit. There is no place to sit and stop in all the places we have visited on this trip, one just keeps walking about. We went next door to the Chocolate House where they have a shop as well as a small restaurant. We had spent so much time at Casa Battlo that we did not have much time before our next stop. We each had a croissant and I had a coffee. Colin however had this huge cup of a mix of chocolates with milk and creme. I stole a sip, divine 😉 All of this for only 5 euro total. We were able to sit outside in the courtyard and relax for a bit.
As you can see this is going to be a very long day. We are only at noonish on Thursday, the 7th. I will continue the day on the next post. Don’t miss it.
I almost forgot, here is a link to seeing this lovely home on your own. You can chose to see the full tour or just the Noble Floor where the main salon is or the attic or the terrace/roof. Here are the words that came with this link…
Good news for all those who can’t visit us in person; Casa Batlló opens Gaudí’s gem doors in a Virtual Tour that will surely delight the most intrepid and curious visitors.
A real adventure in which you will have the privilege of discovering, for the first time, the secret spots of the modernist building. 360º of Gaudinian concepts to find out about, endless allusions to Mother Nature by the very pioneering in a unique new style and an aura of mystery floating in the spaces that will be surrounding the visitor from the beginning to the end of the virtual route.
Is your hunger of curiosity insatiable? Don’t miss this chance to satisfy it!
https://www.casabatllo.es/en/virtual-tour/
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What an amazing place to visit , thanks for all the great pictures and taking us along.
WOW. ALL THE DIFFERENT COLORS. AMAZING SHOTS AND HISTORY. WILL COME BACK IN A COUPLE OF DAYS FOR THE VIRTUAL YOUR. THANKS AGAIN FOR SHARING.
WOW!! Words cannot relay the glory of such a place, so thankful I follow u and u share!!!
Amazing! A true artistic genius. I thought the ceiling fixture looked like an eyeball with lashes!
No words !
Thank you for all the links you inserted.
Don’t forget to post a picture of the Gaudi art piece on your coffee table.
You guys win the award for the intrepid travelers, I admire you both.