March 11. Casa Museu Amatller

By Queenie

After finishing the walking tour and walking along Pg. de Gràcia, we came to Casa Museu Amatller. The house was built in 1875 and completely remodeled between 1898 and 1900 by the architect Puig i Cadafalch. In 1910, Antoni Amatller’s family moved into the house. There are many amazing and exquisite decorations in the building, such as lamps that reflect patterns on the walls, almond flower decorative elements distributed throughout the house, sculptures with different meanings, etc. In addition, the decoration on the roof of each room is also different, which is dazzling. 

What’s more,  the stories of the owners are unforgettable. Antoni Amatller’s family was dedicated to the chocolate industry, and he had a very innovative and adventurous spirit. This is not only reflected in his promotion of modernization of the chocolate industry, such as the introduction of modern marketing and branding techniques but also in his hobbies. He was fond of photography and collecting and was also keen on traveling around the world with his daughter. Perhaps this also brought him a lot of inspiration to promote the development of his chocolate business. Then there is Antoni Amatller’s daughter Teresa Amatller. As a woman, she was not married in that era when the patriarchy was more powerful. She even participated in some activities that others thought were dangerous. She also did not follow her father’s last wish to hand over the building to the city hall, while she established a foundation and tried her best to preserve the building she had lived in decades. She is such an independent, intelligent, and unique woman.

The Casa Museu Amatller, located next to Casa Batlló, may be easily overshadowed, especially by some visitors who are not familiar with the place, but it is worth a visit for more people, for both the decoration in the building and the stories of the family are fantastic.