The Llotja and the Consulate of the Sea

The Columnary Hall or Contracting Room was begun in 1483 and consists of a large hall divided into three longitudinal naves by helical columns. The building is conceived as a temple to commerce and presents a marked symbolic character, in which we wanted to see the representation of paradise in which the columns would be the trees and the domes would represent the celestial dome. The municipality installed here the "exchange table" to carry out the banking operations of the moment. The central tower consists of a ground floor and two upper floors, which were originally used as a prison for merchants declared bankrupt. The complex is completed by the building of the Consulate of the Sea, built in 1498 under the direction of Pere Compte, who died without seeing it completed. Several masters continued the works after his death, completing them in 1548. Of note at the top of the façade overlooking the Market Square is the gallery with arches and the forty medallions representing the bust of Roman emperors and illustrious figures, all from the Renaissance period. To better observe these details, place on the sidewalk in front, next to the church of Santos Juanes, where you will have a better perspective of the whole.