Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya

The Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya has housed Catalonia's autonomous government since the institution's medieval origins in the 15th century, when the Generalitat was established to administer taxation and justice on behalf of the Catalan parliament. Construction of the current palace on Plaça de Sant Jaume began around 1400 and continued through the 16th century, layering Gothic and Renaissance elements onto the medieval core. The building's most celebrated interior space is the Pati dels Tarongers, a Gothic courtyard planted with orange trees and ringed by a gallery of ornate arches, added in the early 16th century. The Chapel of Sant Jordi, dedicated to Catalonia's patron saint, holds a Renaissance facade and Gothic vaulted interior and remains the ceremonial heart of the building. The Golden Hall (Saló Daurat) and the Chamber of Sant Jordi host official ceremonies and government functions today, their coffered ceilings and tapestries preserved through restoration campaigns across the 20th century. The Renaissance facade facing Plaça de Sant Jaume, added in the 16th century, presents a formal counterpoint to the older Gothic facade on Carrer del Bisbe, connected to the Barcelona City Hall opposite by the ornamental Bridge of Sighs, added in the 1920s. Because the palace remains an active seat of government rather than a museum, public access is restricted to specific open days, guided visits, and Catalonia's most significant civic festivals, when the courtyards and ceremonial halls open to the public. The building's uninterrupted institutional use since the 15th century, surviving wars, dictatorship, and periods when Catalan self-government was suspended, makes it a living symbol of Catalonia's political continuity.