Hotels near La Lonja de la Seda

Built between 1482 and 1533, La Lonja de la Seda (the Silk Exchange) is the finest civic Gothic building in Spain and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1996. The Sala de Contratación - the Hall of Columns - is the masterpiece: 24 spiralling helical pillars rise to a vaulted ceiling 17m above, where merchants once traded silk, spices, and credit notes during Valencia's Golden Age.

Four sections make up the complex: the Hall of Contracts, the central Tower (used as a debtors' prison), the Pavilion of the Consulate, and the orange-tree courtyard at the heart. The carved stone friezes around the upper walls hide gargoyles and grotesques worth a closer look. Entry is just 2 EUR (free on Sundays and public holidays), and the building rarely sees the queues that form across the square at Mercado Central.

Pro Tip: Visit on a Sunday morning when entry is free, then walk five minutes south for tapas at a Mercado Central bar before the lunchtime crowds arrive. Bring a wide-angle lens or phone - the column hall is impossible to capture in a single frame otherwise.