Casa Batlló, Barcelona - the dragon house by Gaudi

The client for the house was the textile industrialist Josep Batlló i Casanovas. Antoni Gaudi completely rebuilt the existing building in the years 1904 to 1906 in the style of Modernisme.

The spectacular, colorful façade depicts the legend of Saint George. Saint George is the patron saint of Catalonia and is called Sant Jordi in Catalan. The building is crowned by a roof of large "scales" that imitate the back of the dragon that Saint George fights. The top consists of large balls that change color from one end to the other. Next to this roof is a tower from which rises a three-dimensional cross whose crossbars point to the four cardinal points. This cross is said to symbolize the handle of Saint George's spear. According to legend, Saint George killed the dragon with his spear to protect the princess and the people from the wild beast. The wrought-iron balconies represent skulls, symbolizing the dragon's victims, while the first-floor gallery represents the dragon's mouth. In fact, Casa Batlló used to be known as "House of Bones" or "House of Dragons".

As with Casa Milà, Gaudi was inspired by the sea here. He eschewed edges and angles in favor of natural, wavy shapes, creating the illusion of a moving surface on the house's facade.

From the public entrance hall on the ground floor, an imposing Art Nouveau lattice leads to the private entrance of the Batlló family. This area is a reminiscence of an underwater world. We see skylights that look like turtle shells, arched walls in sinuous shapes, and a spectacular wooden staircase whose handrail is meant to represent the backbone of a large animal.

On the first floor is the living area, the so-called beletage. It is the heart of the house, an elegant salon that shows us how the bourgeoisie lived in those days.
We first see Mr. Batlló's office and an original mushroom-shaped fireplace embedded in a wall niche. After that we enter the main hall of the house with a huge window that rises like a tribune over the street - ideal to see and be seen. Among other elements, the large oak doors stand out with their organic shapes, into which Gaudí incorporated panes of colored glass, and a totally wavy ceiling, alluding to the forces of the sea.

The courtyard is an essential part of Casa Batlló because it is through this area that air and light are distributed, entering through the largest skylight. Gaudi also covered it with tiles in different shades of blue to achieve an even distribution of light. Following the same logic, the windows get larger towards the bottom to let in more light. Wooden grilles are installed in the lower part of the windows, which can be opened and closed to adjust the ventilation.

From the Batlló family's private dining room you can access an exclusive terrace, a small oasis in the middle of the city. In this courtyard, we are surprised by the flooring and the large decorative flower boxes covered with ceramics and glass.

The attic was the service area for the residents of the building with a laundry room and storage rooms. A sequence of 60 white chain arches is striking, creating a bright space reminiscent of an animal's ribs.

From the roof terrace you can then see the back of the dragon that characterizes the facade and that Gaudí designed with bricks of different colors. But the real protagonists of the roof terrace are the four groups of colorful chimneys with curved shapes. Here, too, beauty and functionality combine in the most magnificent and important private home of Catalan Modernisme.

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Visit in April 2023

Chapter
00:00 Intro
00:50 Casa Batlló from the outside
01:58 Inner courtyard and staircase
02:52 Office
03:22 Living room
05:15 Terrace
06:20 The courtyard from above
07:08 The attic and the roof
09:17 Exit
09:40 Outro

[goerlitzundmeinrad]

Das etwas andere, besondere Haus. Gut für die Stadt Barcelona.
Danke für die Infos 🙃👍🐷👍

[lets.walk.around.gothenburg]

🙃😉 Looking forward to watching more of your videos! 💯👍 have a nice day 👍🏼😉😉

[Gotravler]

Welch beeindruckende Architektur! Die Casa Batlló ist wirklich ein Meisterwerk des Modernisme und Antoni Gaudí. Die Farben, Formen und Details sind faszinierend. Danke für die Empfehlung, die Tickets im Voraus zu kaufen, um den Besuch zu optimieren. Ein eindrucksvoller Einblick in die Geschichte und das kreative Genie hinter diesem Haus. Danke für diese informative Tour! 🏠✨🎨

[judyendsley]

Dreamy video.... I'm keeping this one. Will take your advice about buying tickets ahead of time -we will be in Barcelona in 1 week!

[WundervolleWanderwelten]

Hallo, ich liebe die Häuser und die Architektur von Gaudi. Und ich liebe Barcelona! Wir haben Familie dort. Und wir sind immer wieder gerne dort. Tolles Video!🎉 Vielen Dank! Liebe Grüße von Werner und Christiane

[DeKaUnterwegs]

Ein wunderschönes und einzigartiges Gebäude. Beeindruckende Bilder. Großartig gefilmt. Like 2 ist von uns. Liebe Grüße Dettmar und Karin

[costiniucmircea]

Very nice place and beautiful scenery. Gaudi is phenomenal

[evamagdolen]

Very unique Ánd Magic Architecture, Love Gaudi

[DieDieReisen]

Das ist ja ein tolles Gebäude! Danke, dass ihr es mit uns geteilt habt.

[findthesilence]

Und wieder nach Barcelona! Auch wenn ich, wie ihr schreibt, dort wohl nichts die Ruhe finde, so immerhin sehr schöne Gebäude. Das sind sehr schöne Aufnahmen von diesem tollen Haus mit Blicken von innen und außen. Hat mir gut gefallen, liebe Grüße, Martin und Maxi

[sarahhartmann]

Bin Studentin und halte morgen einen vortrag über den Jugendstil und das video war sehr informativ :) sehr viel zeit reingesteckt ❤

[StepsbyKaatje]

Gaudi sure has made amazing things! 😀👍
I really love the style. I don't think I visited this place when I was in Barcelona.
Great share! All the best! Kaat

[josiecabasisborlagdan]

this dragon house so waesome good tourist attraction ever

[Fourpaws-Fitness]

Hallo lieber Freund, tolle Videos spiegeln deine Erfahrung, dein Talent und deine Professionalität wider 👍👍Meine Grüße und volle Unterstützung für meinen Lieblingskanal und alles Gute💝

[germotion]

Sehr farbenfrohe und beeindruckende Impressionen von der Casa. Ich habe Vieles in Barcelona verpasst. 😮😮

[ultraali]

This architecture confuses me but I'm not from the Mediterranean