At the foot of the Mediterranean: The core of commercial transactions

The Lonja de la Seda (Silk Exchange Market) has been world cultural heritage since 1996 and a living benchmark of the golden age in Valencia. The Trade Hall, a fascinating sacred stone-made temple by the honorable stonemason Pere Compte, is one of the most outstanding commercial lounges of civil Gothic in Europe. Conceived as a diaphanous site destined to the compliance of commercial transactions, its helical columns and its majestic ribbed vaults, once decorated with allegorical frescoes, simulate a sort of heavenly Jerusalem that spiritually welcomed the merchant urging him to good manners in pursuit of a fair exchange, as it is conveyed by the border that runs along the four walls of this room. The upper part shows a solid tower used in the past as a prison and annexed to it the Renaissance wing, which was used by the tribunal ´Consolat de Mar´, is located. The coffered ceiling in the Golden Hall, designed by Juan del Poyo, never leaves the visitor indifferent.