Casa Amatller

Standing on Passeig de Gràcia between numbers 35 and 43, you face what architectural critics have called the Block of Discord — three adjacent modernista mansions in such extravagant competition with each other that the street effectively becomes an open-air gallery of Catalan art nouveau at its most inspired and excessive. Casa Amatller at number 41 is the middle entry in this contest: a stepped Dutch-gable roofline crowned with geometric tiles, a Gothic-revival facade covered in ceramic botanical decoration, and a ground-floor gallery that houses the Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic alongside what has become an unexpectedly famous chocolate museum. The building is smaller than its flanking rivals, but more intricate, and arguably more interesting when you look closely.

History of Casa Amatller

Casa Amatller was commissioned in 1898 by Antoni Amatller, a wealthy Barcelona chocolate manufacturer, photographer, and traveller who wanted a residence that expressed his personality as a collector, aesthete, and man of the world. He hired Josep Puig i Cadafalch — then only 30 years old but already a significant figure in Catalan modernisme — to redesign an existing apartment building on Passeig de Gràcia into a grand private palace. Puig i Cadafalch completed the project in 1900 and the result is considered his masterpiece.

The building’s exterior combines three distinct historical references with remarkable coherence: the stepped gable echoes Dutch and Flemish architecture (referencing Amatller’s chocolate trade, which drew on Belgian and Dutch traditions); the Gothic pointed arches reference the Catalan medieval heritage that Puig i Cadafalch, as both architect and art historian, had championed; and the intricate ceramic botanical ornamentation covering the facade expresses the modernista obsession with nature as a design source. The pink granite entrance hall, with its Gothic vaulting, carved stone dragons, and medieval-inspired ironwork, is considered one of the finest domestic interiors of the Catalan modernisme period.

What to See

The building’s ground floor and the first floor of the original main apartment are open to visitors via guided tours. The tour covers the main vestibule with its extraordinary Gothic hall — a space of pale stone, wrought iron, and stained glass that was originally used as an entrance gallery for Amatller’s extensive collection of medieval artefacts and photographs. Amatller was one of the most prolific photographers of his era, travelling throughout Spain, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia with his camera and amassing a collection of over 4,000 glass plate negatives that now constitutes one of the most important early photography archives in Spain, preserved in the Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic on the premises.

The Espai Amatller experience on the ground floor includes a visit to the original kitchen and service spaces, a display of Amatller’s chocolate-making heritage (the family business was one of Barcelona’s foremost confectionery operations from the mid-nineteenth century), and — most famously — a chocolate tasting at the end of the tour. The hot chocolate served at Casa Amatller is prepared from the family’s original recipes and is considered by Barcelona chocolate enthusiasts to be among the finest examples available in the city. The gift shop sells Amatller chocolate bars in packaging that references the original Art Nouveau designs from the early 1900s, and these are among the most distinctive food souvenirs available in Barcelona.

The Block of Discord

The genius of visiting Casa Amatller is that it allows you to experience the Block of Discord (Manzana de la Discordia) as an architectural comparison rather than three isolated buildings. The three adjacent houses — Casa Lleó Morera by Domènech i Montaner at number 35, Casa Amatller by Puig i Cadafalch at 41, and Casa Batlló by Gaudí at 43 — were all built or remodelled within a few years of each other by the three principal architects of Catalan modernisme, creating an inadvertent competition between the three leading figures of the movement.

The comparison is instructive. Domènech i Montaner’s Casa Lleó Morera (1906) is the most academic and symmetrical, its facade a confident display of floral mosaics, stained glass, and sculpted reliefs in a mature Beaux-Arts modernista style. Puig i Cadafalch’s Casa Amatller (1900) is eclectic and literary, drawing on historical references with scholarly exactness. Gaudí’s Casa Batlló (1906) ignores history entirely in favour of imagination: the building’s ceramic-scaled facade, bone-column balconies, and cave-like interiors describe an entirely original visual language that has no precedent. Standing on the pavement and moving slowly from one building to the next, you experience the full range of one of the most productive periods in European architectural history within a few metres.

Practical Information

• Tickets: Espai Amatller guided tour + chocolate tasting approx. €18–24 per person; exterior viewing free; combination tickets with other modernista sites available
• Opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10:30 am–7:00 pm; guided tours run every 30 minutes
• Best time to visit: Weekday mornings for the shortest queues; early booking recommended for weekend visits
• Duration: 1–1.5 hours for the guided tour and tasting; additional time for the Block of Discord exterior walk
• Booking: Tickets bookable online at the Casa Amatller website; advance booking recommended in peak season

Local Insights

What locals know that guidebooks don’t always tell you:

• The hot chocolate at Casa Amatller is genuinely outstanding — thick, dark, and aromatic in the Spanish style that predates modern cocoa processing. Order it with the traditional churros for a morning experience that no café in Barcelona can quite match.
• The Block of Discord is most beautiful in the early morning before tour groups arrive — the light on the facades is best between 9am and 11am, and the pavement is empty enough to step back and photograph the three buildings together.
• Casa Amatller’s photography archive (the Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic) is accessible to researchers by appointment and contains thousands of extraordinary images of Spain in the early twentieth century — a largely unknown resource of great historical value.
• The Passeig de Gràcia’s famous hexagonal pavement tiles were designed by Gaudí himself for the street around Casa Batlló and have since become so associated with Barcelona that they are used throughout the Eixample district. Look for the octopus and starfish motifs in the tile design.
• Puig i Cadafalch’s other major buildings in Barcelona — Casa Macaya, Casa Terrades (the house of spikes), and the Palau del Baró de Quadras — are all within walking distance and receive far fewer visitors than the Block of Discord despite being equally interesting architecturally.

Getting There

• Metro: L2/L3/L4 to Passeig de Gràcia station; exit on the Passeig and walk north; Casa Amatller is visible from the station exit
• Bus: Multiple city routes stop on Passeig de Gràcia; this is one of Barcelona’s main bus corridors
• On foot: 10 minutes from Plaça Catalunya; 15 minutes from the Gothic Quarter through the Eixample grid
• Taxi/Rideshare: Ask for “Passeig de Gràcia 41, Casa Amatller” — all drivers know it; Uber and Cabify are widely available