La Lonja de Valencia, also called, The Lonja de los Mercaderes and the Lonja de la Seda, is a Gothic style building built between the years 1482 and 1533 by the architect Pere Compte with the aim of serving as a headquarters to the city's silk merchants. Inside, the Gothic ceilings of the Golden Chamber stand out, dedicated to the Institution of the Consulate of the Sea, which was dedicated to legislating on matters related to maritime trade and fishing, although the entire complex was declared World Heritage Site in 1996.
The construction of this beautiful building took place during the 15th century, theValencian Golden Age, a historical moment in which trade was the largest source of income for the Crown of Aragó; nand the city's port, one of the most important in the Mediterranean. For its lifting, it was followed the model of the Palma de Mallorca Market that had been built a few years earlier by the architect Guillem Sagrera, although with larger dimensions and a more elaborate iconographic program.< /p>
The property is composed of four spaces: the Tower, the Consulate of the Sea Room, the Patio de los Naranjos and the Contracting Room. In these rooms, the ribbed ceilings and their historic keys stand out, the flamboyant-gothic decoration of the windows, the enormous doors with ogee arches, the sculptures and gargoyles and the heraldic decorations that allude to the Kingdom of Aragon, among many other ornamental motifs that bring us closer to the time of greatest splendor of Valencia.
From Monday to Saturday< /strong> from 10:00 to 19:00 and Sundays and holidays from 10:00 to 14:00.
Other nearby points of interest are the Market Central, the Parish of Santos Juanes and Miguelete.