Valencia is one of the oldest cities in Spain. The city was founded by the Romans on the banks of the Turia River in 138 BC and began to flourish in the Andulasian period (714-1171 AD). The emergence of Islamic culture brought with it many types of trade activities related to paper, silk, leather and ceramics, which turned Valencia into an international commercial center. After experiencing a brief period of decline, Valencia once again revived its influence in the XV century – this period is called the “Golden Period of Valencia”. They are noteworthy monuments associated with the heritage of the Great Silk Road and the silk industry in the city.
One of the noteworthy monuments associated with the heritage of the Great Silk Road and the silk industry in the city is the Lonja de la Seda or Silk Exchange. This masterpiece of civil Valencian Gothic architecture, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, is located in the historical center of the city – on the Market Square, opposite the Church of Los Santos Juanes and the Central Market of Valencia.
The exchange was built between 1482 and 1548 on the model of the market of Palma de Mallorca, and its first builder was Pere Compte. Initially, it was dedicated to the silk trade. The building is a confirmation of the wealth of the Golden Age of Valencia, demonstrating the commercial revolution of the early Middle Ages, a period in which emphasis was placed on social development and prestige acquired by the Valencian bourgeoisie.
Already in the XIV century, local silk merchants appeared here, who in 1465 united in the Association of Our Lady of Mercy, and the chapel at the exchange, built in 1484-1486, was dedicated to the same saint. Due to the great importance of the silk industry, the institution, which was originally known simply as the “trade exchange”, since the end of the XVII century, became known as the Silk Exchange.
By itself, the Silk Exchange represents not one, but a whole complex of buildings. It consists of four parts: a Pillared hall (Trading), a central tower (with a chapel and a prison for silk thieves, as well as bankrupt merchants), a Consular pavilion and an Orange Courtyard. The complex occupies a plot of about 2000 square meters.
The pillared Hall or Trading Hall – also known as the Sala de Contratasion (Contracting Hall) – occupies the first part of the structure and is a large room divided into three longitudinal naves and five transverse helicoidal columns. The ceiling is 17.4 meters high and has cross vaults – it is supported by 24 twisted columns and 16 pilasters of the same type.
The exchange is distinguished by its symbolic character, expressed in the local architecture. Since it was planned as a “temple of commerce”, the Pillared Hall is positioned as a paradise, where the columns resemble the trunks of palm trees with their design, and the arches are the vault of heaven.
The central tower was built simultaneously with the Pillared Hall and was crowned with a terrace with battlements and three gargoyles.
Its lower floor is reserved for a chapel. This small room is blocked by a star-shaped cross vault, and the corner consoles on which it rests are decorated with the symbols of the four evangelists. Sunlight entering here is magically refracted through a large stained glass window.
A small barred door and a virtuoso spiral staircase also made by Pere Compte lead to the second floor of the tower from the Column Hall.
From the Pillared Hall you can also get to the Orange Yard – patio, where oranges and cypresses grow.
In the center of the courtyard there is a romantic fountain in the shape of an eight-pointed star as a neo-Gothic replacement for the former fountain.
Climbing up a wide stone staircase here, you can find yourself in the Consular Pavilion – it is also called the Corps of the Maritime Consulate (Consolat de Mar), since it was here that judicial meetings related to shipping and trade were held. It was the first commercial tribunal in the history of Spain, established back in 1238.
The portal leading from the staircase side is designed in the form of a keel-shaped arch resting on two consoles with images of a demon devouring an animal and a winged vulture with a human head.
Such gargoyles are found all over the facade of the building – there are 28 of them in total, and they are one of the most characteristic elements of the exchange. Their main function is to divert rainwater from the roof. But they also have a symbolic function.
They are made in the form of fantastic animals, birds, monsters, predators devouring people, human figures and other mythological characters. These satirical images are designed to remind people of certain vices and virtues. Many of them are presented in grotesque poses, which can often seem frankly obscene.
Due to their large accumulation on the portal of the main building of the exchange, it is also sometimes called the Portal of Sins.
Most of these figurines, in accordance with the tradition of the Late Middle Ages, remind of one or another sin of the flesh (as a rule, one of the mortal sins).
In Valencia there is another strategically important building in the context of the Great Silk Road – the College of High Silk Art or, as it is better known today, the Museum of the Association of the Guild of Silk Weavers. This guild corporation, created on February 16, 1479 and united Valencian velvet weavers, played an important role in the economy of the city.
In 1677, local silk makers sent the first request to King Charles II that this craft be considered an art. They achieved success, and they were awarded the title of “College of Artists”. Already in the XVII century, the College gained popularity due to the growing expansion of the production of Valencian silk. Obtaining official status marked the beginning of a real boom in silk production in the XVIII century.
The facade of the building has undergone various transformations over the centuries, moving from the Gothic to the Baroque style. Originally it was a building in the Gothic style, but there are almost no traces of it, and now it is a Baroque building. During the next intensive expansion and reconstruction in the middle of the XVIII century, a Hall of Fame was built here. This is the boardroom where corporate executives met – it is the main room of the College.
The decoration of this room is a microcosm consisting of a heavenly part with a fresco on the ceiling of St. Jerome, the patron saint of the Guild of Silk Weavers created by Jose Vergara, and an earthly part – the floor.
The floor of Valencian ceramics represents four continents known at that time. Its author, Vicente Navarro, was inspired by the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Rome, where the continents are represented as their main rivers (Danube, Nile, Ganges and Rio de la Plata).
Navarro represented continents in the form of a woman in a carriage, where each continent is drawn by local animals from the region, such as horses in Europe, elephants in Asia, lions in Africa and alligators in America.
The emblems of the College are the lion and St. Jerome. Preserved frescoes depicting them can be found in the local chapel. Patron Hieronymus is depicted here with a manuscript on his knees and a pen in his hand, a lion at his feet, and in the background – a chaplain suspended from a cross.
The floor in the chapel is lined with antique tiles, divided diagonally by green and white colors – a similar style of paving is called “mockadorets”.
At the foot of the chapel there is also a Gothic spiral staircase carved from hardened plaster – a copy of the one on the Silk Exchange. This staircase allowed you to climb to the second floor or to the attic of the College, however, today it is built up as unnecessary.
To this day, the College owns a collection consisting of handmade silk fabrics, tools for working with silk, haberdashery items, as well as Valencian historical costumes.
In addition, there is a historical archive of documents of the XV century Guild of Weavers. This is the most important guild archive in Europe – it consists of 48 parchments, 660 books and 97 archive boxes.
Taking into account all these characteristics, we can safely judge how significant a place Spain occupied in international trade relations.
Author of the article: Varvara Kartushina
