Archivo de las Indias

This square and sober Renaissance building between the cathedral and Alcázar was once Sevilla’s Lonja, where merchants met to broker trade with the New World. The cannons poking out from the roof echo the decks of Spain’s ocean-going vessels. C Nooteboom, in Roads to Santiago, described it as: “An immense icebox of granite guarded by lions, in which is housed the colonial past, every sigh and every comma, until the end of the world”.

In the late 18th century it was converted into the state archive, where all documents relating to the Americas were stored and filed, an intriguing record that includes everything from the excited scribblings of Columbus to the most mundane book-keeping of remote jungle outposts. There’s a small display of the building’s history on the ground floor, and upstairs, under the vaulted stone ceilings and among the polished shelves holding the archives, are regular themed exhibitions and a couple of Goya portraits. Researchers can examine documents in the reading room, after filling in a form and showing ID.