Barcelona Guide
The Eixample
Casa Amatller
Address: Pg. de Gràcia 41
Opening time: Guided tours Mon– Fri at 11am, noon, 5pm & 6pm, plus Sun at noon
Price: €8
Telephone: 934 877 217
Website: www.amatller.org
Josep Puig i Cadafalch's striking Casa Amatller is an apartment block from 1900 created largely from the bones of an existing building and paid for by Antoni Amatller, a Catalan chocolate manufacturer, art collector, photographer and traveller. The facade rises in steps to a point, studded with coloured ceramic decoration and with heraldic sculptures over the doors and windows. Inside the hallway, the ceramic tiles continue along the walls, while twisted stone columns are interspersed by dragon lamps, all of which are further illuminated by fine stained-glass doors and an interior glass roof.
Guided tours of the house include a visit to Amatller's photographic studio and chocolate-tasting in the original kitchen. Temporary exhibitions at the house are usually worth a look, too, with some based on the collections amassed by Amatller or by his daughter, who established the Amatller Institute of Hispanic Art here in 1941. The Institute promotes research into the history of Hispanic art, and maintains a photo library and archive in the house.