Llotja de Palma

The floor plan of the Llotja de Palma is rectangular, in accordance with its length of four units and its width of three units, all covered with ribbed vaults, currently with a tiled roof. The four facades are delimited by octagonal towers at the corners, which were supposed to have pinnacles with spires, and smaller towers (parapets or bartizans) in between. Two smaller towers are situated on the front and back facades, while three are aligned with the rows of interior columns on the side facades, serving as buttresses. Each tower features large gargoyles, created by Guillem Sagrera, in the form of animals (lions and dragons), with one of them uttering the words "O com es fret" (Oh, how cold it is!).

On the east facade, there is the main portal divided into two sections by a mullion, similar to the Mirador portal and the Almoina portal of the Cathedral of Mallorca, as well as at Sant Nicolau and Sant Domingo, which was demolished in the 19th century. In the tympanum, there is a grand and magnificent sculpture of the Guardian Angel of the Merchants, adorned with a cape and a scroll bearing the inscription "Defenders of the Merchants," following the style of the angel from the procession of the Guardian Angel in the city of Valencia.

On the west facade, there is a smaller portal with a sculpture of the Virgin Mary with the Infant Jesus in the tympanum, reflecting a Burgundian style. On the outer face of each corner tower, there is a sculpture depicting the patron saint of the nearest church: St. Catherine of Alexandria, for the chapel of the hospital and orphanage to which it was dedicated; St. John, for St. John of Malta, with a sculpted image in the style of Claus Sluter; St. Nicholas of Bari, now lost, for the chapel of St. Nicholas of Portopí; and St. Clare, for the monastery named after this saint. All the sculptures are placed on brackets in the style of Jean de Valenciénnes.

In the middle of the southern façade, there are two large windows. On the northern façade, there are two large twin portals of lesser quality, made by Guillem Vilasclar or one of the descendants of Guillem Sagrera. Between these two portals and the two windows on the seaside, there is a missing sculpture of an angel.

The upper part of the structure, from bottom to top, consists of a corbel, pierced window tracery, and crenellations, interrupted by turrets. The corbel is composed of eight modillions per span between the turrets, covered with vegetal decoration. Next comes the wide band of pierced window tracery, which ends with a molding that forms the outer finish of the window lintel, connecting them. Above the tracery, there is a similar molding that separates it from the crenellations. The crenellated crown is formed by a gallery of four windows, skylights in the documents, open between the turrets and between them and the towers. The windows are separated by what the documents of the time call "pilarets." Despite their name, these pilarets do not exceed the upper part of the window tracery, they are not square in shape, they have no base or capital, and they are decorated with a small quatrefoil rosette halfway between the lintel and the beginning of the tracery ornamentation. These rosettes are only present on the half turrets of the front and rear façade. As for the upper ornamentation, it is molded, conopial, and has an eye on each side located next to the axis of symmetry.

The crenellation consists of three stepped Catalan merlons between the tower and turret and between them, and a half merlon between each tower and turret. The axis of the full merlons coincides with the rosette axis of the pilarets, and the height and width of the merlon steps are equal to the separation between them. The towers and turrets are crowned with merlons of the same style as the aforementioned ones. However, the axis of these merlons coincides with each of the eight corners of the towers and turrets, which are octagonal, and the midpoint between merlon and merlon is located in the middle of each face of the tower (therefore, there are eight merlons on each tower and turret). There are also additional differences because the merlons of the turrets are narrower, closer together, and have only one step, characteristics proportional to the width and height of the turrets they crown, which are smaller than those of the towers.

Both the merlons of the towers and those of the turrets project from the walls because they are placed on a system of modillions similar to the one supporting the first molding of the crown, giving the impression of machicolations. This is also the case in the crown of the pierced window tracery, which extends beyond the mentioned modillions.

The fortification-like appearance provided by these machicolations and merlons is the logical complement to the corner towers, which even have arrow slits to illuminate the landings of the interior stairs. The octagonal shape of these towers is the same as that of the towers on the old façade of the Cathedral of Mallorca and the columns that separate the interior aisles. This floor plan was imitated in the façade of Sant Nicolau in the city of Mallorca and in various parish and conventual churches in the rural areas of Mallorca. It is also the floor plan of the towers of the entrance gate of the Poblet Monastery and the Serrans Towers in Valencia, which are hexagonal due to their integration into the city walls in terms of civil constructions. It can also be found in the towers of Santa Maria del Mar, the bell towers of the Cathedral, the chapel of Santa Àgata in Barcelona, and the Pedralbes Monastery, as well as other religious buildings in the Principality.

The interior of the Llotja is composed of three naves of the same height separated by six slender helical columns without capitals. These columns were imitated in the Llotja of Valencia, the church of Sant Jaume de Villena, and the base of the San Giorgio tower in Castel Nuovo, Naples, also designed by Guillem Sagrera. There are no pilasters on the walls to receive the ribs of the vaults; instead, following Guillem Sagrera's style, the ribs emerge directly from the plane of the wall, as seen in the chapter house of the Cathedral of Mallorca and the grand hall of Castel Nuovo in Naples, both by the same author. The keystones of the vaults display crowned shields with the Royal Four Bars on the main nave, and the coat of arms of the city of Mallorca, also crowned, on the side naves, all with their original polychrome and gold. In the middle of the southern facade, two large windows open up. On each side of the main entrance and the opposite facade, there are two windows with ribbed vaults and a medallion on each side, resembling the one that lines the interior wall of the entire hall. At each chamfered corner, there is a small door with a conopial arch, decorated with the image of one of the four evangelists, a style also imitated in the doors of some marital residences in the city. Of these doors, only the ones on the seaside lead to a magnificent spiral staircase to access the rooftop terrace.