Product Information

Highights

The building houses all the documentary collections related to the conquest and colonization of the New World. Currently, it is considered one of the largest research centers on American History. More than 43,000 files, 8,000 maps and drawings, letters, signatures of great historical figures such as Christopher Columbus, Hernán Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, Ferdinand Magellan or Vasco Núñez de Balboa and documents of great historical value such as the Treaty of Tordesillas.  They are not visible to the public except in temporary exhibitions, but they are available to be analyzed and consulted by international researchers who visit the archive each year.

It is a Herrerian Renaissance style building with a square floor plan, with two floors and a square-shaped central patio, combining red bricks and stone elements.

On the side façade, in front of the cathedral, is the Cross of the Oaths,   where commercial agreements were made between merchants with a handshake.

Inside from the lobby you can see paintings by Hernán Cortés and Colón. The main staircase is from the 18th century made of marble with the Royal coat of arms. It has several rooms, galleries, with shelves that stand out for their vaults.

Short description

Monday, January 6, December 24,25 and 31

Long description

In the 16th century, merchants attracted by the ships that came and went from the Port of Seville crowded the city doing business with products from the New World and used the stands. They visited the Cathedral for their transactions and when it rained they used the temple. Due to a conflict between the Cathedral Chapter and the Municipal Chapter, in 1584 King Philip II approved the construction of the Casa Lonja de Mercaderes in Seville. When he was lost The Sevillian monopoly in the trade of the Indies, in 1785 by the hand of King Carlos III, was created. the Indian Archive of Seville with the aim of centralizing in a single place the documentation relating to the administration of the Spanish colonies until then dispersed in various archives: Simancas, Cádiz and Seville. The plans were by Juan de Herrera although its real builders were Juan de Minjares and Alonso de Vandelviva. In 1987 it was listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.

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