Casa Lleó Morera, Barcelona, Besucherguide & was in der Nähe unternehmen

Casa Lleó Morera is a Modernist townhouse at Passeig de Gràcia 35 in Barcelona, designed by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. It is one of the four buildings of the famous Mansana de la Discòrdia, the stretch of street where the city's leading Modernist architects built side by side.

The story behind it

Domènech i Montaner reworked an existing building on this corner in the early 1900s, giving it the rich sculpture, stained glass and ornament typical of Catalan Modernism. The result was admired in its day and remains one of his best-known works in the city centre.

The house stands in a block with two nicknames: Illa de la Discòrdia in Catalan and Mansana de la Discòrdia in Spanish. It is usually translated as the Block of Discord, a nod to how daring and sometimes controversial Modernism seemed. The word for block, mançana or manzana, also means apple, so the name plays on the golden Apple of Discord from the Greek myth of the Judgement of Paris, where goddesses compete to be the fairest. Here the rivals are four architects, Domènech i Montaner, Antoni Gaudí, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Enric Sagnier, whose very different buildings seem to compete for your attention.

What to look for

• Look up at the corner of the building, where the rounded turret and the carved decoration give the facade its distinctive silhouette.
• Notice the sculpted figures and floral ornament around the balconies, typical of Domènech i Montaner's love of craft and detail.
• Step back across the street to compare it with its neighbours, including Gaudí's Casa Batlló and Puig i Cadafalch's Casa Amatller, and see how different the rooflines and colours are.
• Check the ground floor and entrance, where the shopfront has been altered over the years, and picture how the building once looked from the street.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 15 to 20 minutes to admire the facade and compare the buildings of the block; much longer if you plan to go inside.
• Morning is usually quieter on Passeig de Gràcia, and the light on the facades is pleasant earlier in the day.
• Interior visits have generally been offered as guided tours, so check current opening hours and booking details before you go.
• Casa Batlló and Casa Amatller are only a few steps away, so you can see the whole block in one stop.

See it on a quest

Casa Lleó Morera is a stop on Gaudi's Barcelona: The Artist's Masterpieces, a self-guided walk themed around Gaudí and the Modernist city. You reach the house on foot as one stop of a longer route through the area, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. That makes you look at the facade properly instead of just snapping a photo. The quest is paid, and one ticket covers the whole group. You can start whenever you like, with no guide and no group to join.