Legends or stories of Barcelona, by María Guardia

 The Apple of discord:

Maybe it’s the most famous square of Passeig de Gracia.

The name “Apple of discord” refers of an episode in Greek mythology, the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, a celebration to which all the Greek gods were invited except (of) Eris (the goddess of discord).

Eris, very angry, showed up at the wedding with a golden apple as a gift, in which the word Kallisti (the most beautiful) could be read.

The apple was claimed by Hera, Athena and Aphrodite; to avoid discussions, Zeus ordered Paris (prince of Troy) to decide for whom the apple would go ...

The three goddesses tried to convince Paris by giving him arguments, but Paris finally offered the apple to Aphrodite, who had promised him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helena (wife of the king of Sparta). This fact caused the Trojan War.

The similarity with this myth and the bone of contention in Barcelona is that it is still doubted which of the following three buildings is the most beautiful:

- Casa Batlló (Antoni Gaudí) 

- Casa Amatller (Puig i Cadafalch) 

- Casa LLeó Morera (Domenech i Montaner)  

It's hard to choose, right?

Batlló House: 

On its façade, Gaudí represented the Legend of Sant Jordi.

The columns and windows are shaped like the bones of the animals that the inhabitants of the town of Montblanc gave to the dragon to satisfy its hunger in order to prevent it from approaching the wall.

However, one day the animals ran out and he was still hungry, the inhabitants no longer knew how to stop him and decided to sacrifice one of their neighbours, with such bad luck that the princess, whose balcony is represented in the highest window, was the chosen one.

When the dragon approached for its prey, a brave knight wielding his sword managed to drive it into the heart of the dragon, ending with his life. On the roof, the back of the dragon comes to life with the ceramic tiles in the shape of scales and is crossed by the cross, which simulates the sword of Sant Jordi.

From the wound in the dragon's heart came a great stream of blood that fell to the ground, from which a beautiful rose bush grew that you can see in the roses that adorn the facade.

Amatller House:  A bit of chocolate?

Many of the elements that adorn the facade of the house refer to chocolate.

Antoni Amatller (the owner of the house) was a chocolatier craftsman, who commissioned Josep Puig i Cadafalch to convert the old building into his residence.

The architect adorned some elements of the façade so that they would somehow recall the owner's profession, so if you look up at the top, with staggered shapes, don't they remind you of the ounces of chocolate bars?

And just above the door where the carriages entered we can see three glasses, the three types of chocolate that exist: dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate.

Doing once again, reference to the profession of the owner ...