Explorer Barcelone

Palau Dalmases is a noble town house on Carrer de Montcada in La Ribera, rebuilt from 1698 for the merchant Pau Dalmases after the siege of 1697 left it in ruins. Its courtyard keeps a Baroque open staircase with Solomonic columns and a carved frieze of the Rape of Europa and Neptune's chariot. The house now hosts flamenco shows several times a day.

Palau Güell is a town mansion in El Raval designed by Antoni Gaudí for the industrialist Eusebi Güell and built between 1886 and 1890. Two parabolic arched gates with wrought-iron work open into rooms grouped around a tall central hall under a perforated dome, and the roof terrace carries chimneys clad in mosaic. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Gaudí's works.

Casa Amatller is a house on Passeig de Gràcia that Josep Puig i Cadafalch remodelled between 1898 and 1900 for the chocolate maker Antoni Amatller, giving it a stepped gable faced with ceramic tiles. The family's rooms keep their original furniture and decoration of 1900 and are seen on guided or audio-guided visits.

Casa Batlló is a house on Passeig de Gràcia that Antoni Gaudí remodelled from 1904 for Josep Batlló, part of the block of Modernista buildings known as the Illa de la Discòrdia. Its facade is covered in broken-tile mosaic, with bone-like columns and a roof shaped like a dragon's back; visitors tour the main floor, the light well and the roof terrace.

Casa Milà, known as La Pedrera, is an apartment building on Passeig de Gràcia designed by Antoni Gaudí and built between 1906 and 1912 for Pere Milà and Roser Segimon. It has a self-supporting undulating stone facade with wrought-iron balconies, and visitors see its courtyards, the attic and the roof terrace with sculpted chimneys.

The Palau Baró de Quadras is a town house on Avinguda Diagonal that Josep Puig i Cadafalch remodelled between 1904 and 1906 for Manuel de Quadras, first Baron of Quadras. Its Diagonal front carries a carved stone Gothic-revival gallery by Eusebi Arnau and Alfons Juyol; the building is the seat of the Institut Ramon Llull and its main floor is shown on guided tours.

Casa Vicens in Gràcia is Antoni Gaudí's first major house, built between 1883 and 1885 as a summer residence for the stockbroker Manuel Vicens. Its walls of rough stone and brick are banded with green and white tiles in a Neo-Mudéjar style; the restored rooms, garden and roof terrace are open as a museum, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005.

Casa Rocamora is a two-storey Isabelline-style villa from the mid-19th century in the Putxet district, home of the collector Manuel Rocamora from 1935 until his death in 1976. Kept by the foundation he inspired, it shows his collections of painting, Alcora ceramics, ship figureheads, automata and advertising posters on guided tours.

Bellesguard is a modernist country house in Sant Gervasi, designed by Antoni Gaudí and built between 1900 and 1909 on the site of a residence of King Martin of Aragon. Its stone walls, battlements and slender spire topped by a cross recall medieval Gothic forms, with mosaics by Domènec Sugrañes, and a garden with remains of the royal residence surrounds it.