Valencia - Lonja de la Seda

According to the Roman historian Titus Livius "Valentia" was founded by Consul Decimus Iunius Brutus Callaicus in the 4th century BC.

A century later "Valentia Edetanorum" became one of the first Hispanic cities to become a Roman colony.

The city made rapid progress after the Arab conquest in 711, reaching 15,000 inhabitants in the Caliphate of Córdoba. The Amirids and the Dhun Nunids ruled in “Balansiya”. In 1094, El Cid, a Castilian noble, conquered the city. The conquest was not carried out on behalf of one of the Christian kingdoms, but on the Cid's own account, who proclaimed himself "Señor de Valencia" and thus created a kind of private kingdom. He was able to defend the city against several Almoravid attacks, and after his death in 1099, his widow Jimena managed to hold Valencia until 1102, when it fell to the Almoravids, and a little later to the Almohads.

After the victory of the united Christian armies over the Almohads in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), Moorish Spain fell apart again into individual small kingdoms, including a Taifa from Valencia.

It was finally conquered in 1238 by Jaime​ I de Aragón (aka "el Conquistador"), after a five-month siege.

In the 15th century, the city grew rapidly and developed into one of the largest Mediterranean ports and an important trade and financial center. At the beginning of the 15th century the city had around 40,000.

The "Lonja de la Seda" ("Silk Exchange") is a late Gothic-style building built between 1482 and 1533. Behind the current building, there was an earlier one from the 14th century, which was called "Lonja del Aceite" (Oil Exchange). It was used not only for trading with agricultural goods, but for all kind of business.

Valencia's commercial prosperity reached its peak during the 15th century, and led to the construction of this building. The design was derived from a similar Lonja of Palma de Majorca.

The main hall "Sala de Contratación", where the contracts were discussed and signed, is a large lavishly decorated space supported by twisted columns.

The hall opens to a walled courtyard with orange trees. Strange creatures populate the portal to the garden. However, they seem to be very musical.