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The hall
The Trading Hall stands on twisted columns, with golden letters on a blue band
The main hall, the Sala de Contractació, is a large, lavishly decorated space supported by twisted columns. It was the financial centre of La Lonja, where merchants worked out contracts. Look along all four walls: a blue band runs round them, and on it an inscription in golden letters.
Fifteen years
Pere Compte built the Trading Hall in only fifteen years, and the band says so
The architect Pere Compte built the main body of the building, the Trading Hall, in only fifteen years, between 1483 and 1498. The golden inscription on the blue band begins with that boast. Joan Francesc Mira read it as showing that one did not need to be a Protestant or a foreigner to enter into a good trade, and as joining ethical principles to the economy.
“Inclita domus sum annis aedificata quindecim.”
Inscription on the blue band of the Trading Hall
Before it
An older Oil Exchange stood behind it, and a Palma building was the model
Behind the current building stood an earlier one from the 14th century, the Oil Exchange, used for trading agricultural oils. Valencia's commercial prosperity reached its peak in the 15th century, and led to the new building, whose design was derived from the Lonja of Palma de Majorca. The Lonja was built between 1482 and 1533.
The Consulate
The Consulate sat here, and merchants could be jailed in the tower for debts
The side wing, the Pavilion of the Consulate, was the seat of the Consolat del Mar, the first marine merchant tribunal ever formed in Spain. Its rooms on the first two floors still have the original furnishings. Occasionally the Tribunal would imprison merchants for debts in the central tower of La Lonja.
Honesty
In 1996 UNESCO listed it, and the inscription honours its traders' honesty
For centuries La Lonja functioned as a silk exchange, and the honesty of its traders is honoured by the inscription that runs around the main hall. In 1996 UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site, calling it a wholly exceptional example of a secular building in late Gothic style.
Day 1, midday
It comes after Central Market. Then Valencia Cathedral and the Miguelete.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Lonja de la Seda, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.