Casa Batlló wasn't built from scratch; instead, it underwent a transformation from an existing structure designed by Emilio Sala Cortés in 1877. Interestingly, Sala Cortés was Antoni Gaudí's teacher.

Gaudí incorporated an original ventilation system at Casa Batlló, featuring manual openings on windows to regulate airflow precisely.

Casa Batlló's architectural elements draw inspiration from the marine world and the Mediterranean sea.

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How to Buy Casa Batllo Tickets and Tours?

Casa Batlló Timed Entry Ticket

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€35

Casa Batllo Skip-the-Line Guided Tour

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Combo: Park Güell Tickets with Audio Guide + Casa Batlló Skip-the-Line Tickets

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Turbopass Barcelona City Card: 25+ Attractions & Public Transport

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€128.80

Who built Casa Batllo?

Located at number 43 on Paseo de Gracia, Casa Batllo was born as a result of renovating a building designed in 1877 by Emilio Sala Cortés. Interestingly enough, Cortes was Antoni Gaudi's teacher. The original building, commissioned by Lluís Sala Sánchez, was a classical building, with no remarkable features.

In 1906, after the house was bought by Josep Batlló, they had Gaudi redesign the house in a way that it did not resemble any of the other houses that belonged to the Batllo family. Between 1904 and 1906, the building was renovated.

History of Casa Batllo

History of Barcelona's Casa Batllo in a Nutshell

Casa Batllo building was originally built in 1877 by Emilio Sala Cortes, an architecture professor of Antoni Gaudi.
In 1903, Mr. Joseph Batllo, a businessman, and textile industrialist, purchased the building.
Mr. Joseph Batllo assigned Antoni Gaudi the project of demolishing the building as he wanted to build a house that is creative and audacious. But Gaudi convinced the owner to not demolish the house and renovate it instead.
The building was completely reformed between 1904 and 1906 with Batllo’s house vision in mind.
After the death of Joseph Batllo, the house was kept in order by his wife till 1940. After the death of both the parents, their children managed the house until 1954.
In 1954, an insurance company named Seguros Iberia took over Casa Batllo.
The company started refurbishments in internal rooms in 1970. This was followed with restoring of exterior balconies in1983.
Since 1993, the building is owned by the current owner who continued refurbishments throughout the building.
In 1995, the building was opened to the public and offered for event bookings.
Currently, Casa Batllo Barcelona is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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Design and Architecture

Antoni Gaudi was known for his ability to bring together design and functionality. His work can be identified as Modernisme or Art Nouveau.

Casa Batllo, in particular, has a skeletal organic quality, achieved by avoiding straight lines. The ground floor is categorized by its irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stonework. The facade, made using a technique called trencadis, is a dialogue of color and light. It resembles the waves of a calm sea.

You will find inspiration from nature in all other aspects of the house. Take, for example, the wooden railing that evokes the backbone of a large cetacean, or even the terrace that resembles a dragon’s back, thanks to the use of colored tiles that have a metallic sheen, allowing it to look like scales.

Inside Casa Batllo

Gaudi designed the interiors of Casa Batllo with the same attention to detail as he did the exteriors, taking inspiration from nature. You will find marine life and floral motifs throughout the house.

Facade

Gaudi used marine life as inspiration for the facade and added sculptures, decontextualized objects, recycled materials, etc. to give it a unique design. The main floors feature stone columns that are shaped as bones with modernist elements while the balcony railings have the shape of masks. It also features a roof with large scales where the upper part is made from huge spherical components whose color varies from one end to another. You will also notice a cross with four arms pointing in different directions that rises from a tower on the roof.

The Entrance Hall

The first stop of the Casa Batllo Barcelona building is the Entrance Hall.

This communal hall on the ground floor will take you to the private entrance hall of the Batllo family through a modernist grid.

With skylights resembling turtle shells, vaulted walls, and an impressive wooden staircase, the hall feels like an underwater world. You will also find a carved hardwood banister that represents a huge animal’s backbone.

Noble Floor

Showcasing high levels of modernism, the Noble Floor with a unique hall is located at the center of the building.

The Noble Hall begins with Mr. Batllo’s study room featuring a very unique mushroom-shaped fireplace. From here, you head to the house’s living room where the gallery can be seen through a large picture window.

Other important features of the floor are the large oak doors with organic shapes made from stained glass and the wavy ceiling that represents the strength of the sea.

Patio of Lights

A fundamental component of Casa Batllo in Barcelona is the Patio of Lights that uses the main skylight to redistribute the air and light. Antoni Gauded extended this patio to ensure that the light enters all the rooms of the house. He used tiles of varying blue tones as decorative elements to uniformly distribute the light in the room. This is also why the upper windows are smaller and slowly increase in size as you descent to allow light in.

The lower windows feature slits for ventilation control. There is also a wooden lift car installed in the center of the patio of lights, which is still in use.

Indoor Garden

From the private dining room of the Batllo family, visitors can reach the rear courtyard on the Noble Floor. This small garden is a great spot for relaxing in the afternoon. When you enter this space, you will find the space has been decorated with paving and tile- and glass-covered flower pots.

Loft

The Loft isn’t just aesthetically pleasant but extremely functional as well. Formerly, this was the service area for the tenants and included a storage area, laundry room, and so on. It's largely white, indicating Mediterranean influences, and has light permeating throughout. You will see a series of 60 catenary arches, which resemble the ribcage of an animal.

The Terrace

The Terrace is best known for the facade made using different colorful tiles so that it evokes the image of a dragon. It has hence been popularly dubbed as the dragon’s back.

The main focus of the terrace is the four crooked chimney stacks that have been added to prevent backdraughts. With the help of Catalan modernism, the terrace design by Gaudi is both beautiful and functional.

The Restoration

It comes as no surprise to anyone that the facade of Casa Batllo is one of the most important features of the house. However, between 1950s (when Batllo's children sold the house) and the 1990s (when it was purchased by the Bernat family), the condition of the facade deteriorated.

In 2001, a couple of years after it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the restoration and maintenance efforts began.

Between February to May 2019, professionals from 7 different fields came together to check the work carried out 18 years ago, as well as to clean it, restore it and also put conservation techniques in place. This effort included checking that the coating added by Gaudí was still perfectly attached to the original façade, cleaning it and recovering the ceramic tiles in a way that the color scheme was not disrupted, among other things.

They were also able to make some discoveries, including that of the original authentic skin of the house, which was then restored. This effort at restoration is no less than a historical feat. In 2019, visitors could visit the building and observe the restoration phases. Today, since it is not possible to see the restoration first-hand, people can watch there are videos that document how the facade, the Noble floor, and the different decorations were recovered.

Plan Your Visit to Casa Batllo

Timings

Getting There

Daily: 9 AM - 6:30 PM (Last entry at 5:30 PM)

Duration: It will take you approximately 1 - 2 hours to tour Casa Batllo.

Best time to visit: If you wish to enjoy a quieter vacation in Barcelona, then plan a visit between March to May or September to November.

Plan a visit to Casa Batllo in the morning hours, between 9 AM - 11 AM or late afternoon between 3 PM - 5 PM, to avoid the crowd.

Know More

Address: Pg. de Gràcia, 43, 08007 Barcelona, Spain

Google Map

By Bus: Take buses H10, V15, 7, 22, and 24 to get to Casa Batllo. You can also take the red and blue route of the Barcelona Tourist Bus to reach Casa Batllo.

By Train: Use RENFE to reach Passeig de Gràcia station or FGC to reach Provença station. Casa Batllo is a 5-minute walk from the stations.

By Metro: Take metro L2, L3, or L4 to get down at Passeig de Gràcia.

By Car: You can drive a car to Casa Batllo. You can park the car in the nearby paid parking spaces.

Plan Your Visit

Gaudi's Barcelona

Antoni Gaudi, a Catalan architect, is known for his unique architectural style that includes colors, natural designs, and religious imagery. Using ceramic mosaic tiles and stained glasses, he adds vivid colors and textures to his buildings. Since nature inspired him, you would find natural shapes and patterns in his buildings. He is particularly famous for creating hyperboloid structures that mimick the shape of trees and extend upwards.

A similar architectural style can be observed in Casa Batllo, Barcelona as well which Gaudi convinced the owner to renovate and not demolish. He expanded the rooms to let in light, added archways and skylights, and decorated the facade with colorful ceramic mosaic tiles.

All Your Questions About Casa Batllo Answered

Q. What is Casa Batllo?

A. Casa Batllo is a multistoried apartment building in Barcelona that was designed by Antoni Gaudi and is said to be one of his masterpieces. This building is famous for its design and architecture, especially the facade added by Gaudi.

Q. How much does it cost to visit Casa Batllo?

A. The prices of tickets to Casa Batllo in Barcelona starts at €35. You can buy Casa Batllo tickets here.

Q. When was Casa Batllo built?

A. The building preceding Casa Batllo was built in 1877 by Emilio Sala Cortés, an architect professor of Gaudi. In 1904, the renovation for the building started and the building was renamed Casa Batllo. Antoni Gaudi was the chosen architect for the renovation.

Q. Who designed Casa Batllo?

A. Antoni Gaudi renovated the Casa Batllo Barcelona building in 1906.

Q. What is Casa Batllo famous for?

A. The Casa Batllo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that features Gaudi’s finest design and modernism.

Q. Where is Casa Batllo located?

A. Casa Batllo, also known as Casa dels ossos, is located at number 43 on the Paseo de Gracia street in the Example district of Barcelona.

Q. What is Paseo de Gracia?

A. The Paseo de Gracia is one of the most important boulevards in Barcelona. It features beautiful architectural buildings and has luxury stores on both sides.

Q. What is inside Casa Batllo?

A. The inside of Casa Batllo Barcelona is beautifully designed by Gaudi in collaboration with a few of the best artisans of that time. Ceramic tiles, wrought iron, stained glass, wood, and stone ornaments are a few things used to design the interiors of the home.

Q. What are the timings for Casa Batllo?

A. The timings for visiting Casa Batllo Barcelona are from 9 AM to 6:30 PM every day. The last entry is at 5:30 PM.

Q. How long does it take to tour the Casa Batllo?

A. It takes approximately an hour to explore Casa Batllo in Barcelona.

Q. Is the Casa Batllo wheelchair-friendly?

A. Yes, Casa Batllo Barcelona is wheelchair-friendly and offers access to a large portion of the home to disabled visitors.

Q. Is the Casa Batllo accessible to people with disabilities?

A. Yes, Casa Batllo can be accessed by people with disabilities as well. There is a lift with priority usage that can be used by visitors with disabilities, reduced mobility, and pregnant women.