Generalitat de Catalunya

The oldest section of the Palau. To the right of the main façade in carrer del Bisbe is the monumental portal of the mediaeval building, the work of Marc Safont (1416-1418). This portal was admired so much by the deputies who ordered its construction that they paid Pere Joan, author of the ornamental sculpture and the medallion of St. George, twice the amount agreed.

The stone wall is crowned by a parapet in flamboyant Gothic style with pinnacles and gargoyles. Presiding this is the sculpture of the saint killing the dragon to free the princess, as told in the mediaeval legend. The princess is portrayed in the gargoyle to the left of the medallion.

The wall along carrer del Bisbe used to enclose the old market garden of the first houses purchased by the deputies of the mediaeval Generalitat. A little later, in the first third of the fifteenth century, Marc Safont rehabilitated these buildings to convert them into a palace with the characteristic structure of Catalan noble houses.

The inner court-yard of the Palau is framed by the gallery on the main floor. From the courtyard, a noble staircase, beautifully decorated and supported on a daring flattened arch, gives access to the Gothic Gallery through a strange arch, supported on two columns and enclosed by a hanging capital.

These Renaissance pieces in pink marble replaced the Gothic originals in the XVI century. The entire Gothic Gallery evokes Catalan religious cloisters in the Gothic style, with its fine columns and capitals.

The complex is crowned by an upper gallery of flattened arches, pinnacles and gargoyles. The main floor leads, in front of the top of the stairs, onto the Saló Arxiu de Comptes (old offices and archive of the administrator of the Exchequer) and the Capella de Sant Jordi or Saint George’s Chapel. On the opposite wing, a small door leads to the current office of the president (former Cambra dels Oïdors – Auditors’ Chamber), and two more sumptuous doors open into the Saló Verge de Montserrat (formerly the Cabinet Meeting Room).