Casa de la Contratación
From its foundation in 1503, the main task of the Casa de la Contratación (House of Trade) was to manage and regulate trade and shipping with the Spanish territories across the Atlantic.
It was first housed in the Atarazanas (shipyards) of Seville, but that site was exposed to floods that damaged the goods, so it soon moved to the Alcázar, to the Admirals’ Hall, where it remained until it was transferred to Cádiz in 1717.
The merchants’ Consulate
In 1543 the Consulate of merchants was created in Seville: the Casa Lonja, as old Sevillian documents call it, the Exchange for travellers from the 16th to the 18th centuries, or the Consulate, as it would be called in the 19th century. Until then, trials and lawsuits between merchants had been heard at the Casa de la Contratación; from 1543 the Consulate, like those of Burgos or the Lonja of Valencia, took over much of the civil jurisdiction over its members.
The Archive of the Indies
The vast body of documents gathered by the Casa de la Contratación now forms the Archive of the Indies, housed in the Casa Lonja building in Seville.
