The Eixample district was where all the rich bourgeois families wanted to live at the end of the 19th century, and was at the heart of the modernist boom in Barcelona. Standing tall and proud on the corner of Passeig de Gràcia is Casa Lleó Morera, an enchanting piece of Catalan Art Nouveau architecture designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner. This building, along with two others (Casa Amatller and Casa Batlló) have led the locals to call this block the “mansana de la discòrdia” (block of discord) because of the three disparate examples of modernist architecture that stand so close to each other.

Unfortunately the building is no longer open to the public, but admiring the facade is good enough. The bottom of the building has four wide, gentle arches which are supported by 9 light-pink columns. The rest of the facade is decorated with natural and organic stonework motifs which embellish the different sets of windows. The tempietto on its top (now restored after damage from the Spanish Civil War) distinguishes it above the other buildings, and the central corner of the building follows its curved shape all the way down to a large semi-circular window that juts out over the street on the first floor.

Casa Lleó Morera

Passeig de Gràcia, 35, Barcelona,