The Palau Reial Major is a complex of historic buildings in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. It was a residence of the counts of Barcelona and, later, of the Kings of Aragon

Kingdom of Aragon

The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain...

. It is composed of three distinct edifices:

• the Saló del Tinell, built by King Peter IV
  Peter IV of Aragon
  Peter IV, , called el Cerimoniós or el del punyalet , was the King of Aragon, King of Sardinia and Corsica , King of Valencia , and Count of Barcelona Peter IV, (Balaguer, September 5, 1319 – Barcelona, January 6, 1387), called el Cerimoniós ("the Ceremonious") or el del punyalet ("the one...
  
   in 1359-1362
• the Palatine Chapel of St. Agatha (1302), built under King James II
  James II of Aragon
  James II , called the Just was the King of Sicily from 1285 to 1296 and King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. In 1297 he was granted the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica...
  
  
• the Palau del Lloctinent (1549), built by Charles V
  Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
  Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
  
  .

The Saló del Tinell occupies the interior of the original 11th-century edifice (built over a pre-existing monumental structure dating to the Visigoth age), reconstructed in the 14th century under the direction of Guillem Carbonell. The Chapel of St. Agatha, in Catalan Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 style, was designed by Bertran Riquer to act as royal chapel, replacing the previous oratory. It has an octagonal tower from the early 14th century, and it consists of a single aisle with a barrel vault

Barrel vault

A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...

ed ceiling, and ends with a polygonal apse. The sacristy is built within the ancient Roman walls. By commission of Peter V of Aragon

Peter V of Aragon

Peter V of Aragon , Infante of Portugal, Constable of Portugal and Grand Master of the Order of Aviz.He was son of Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra, and Isabella of Aragon, Countess of Urgel, and grandson of John I of Portugal.During the War Against John II, between 1463 and 1466 Peter was King of...

 (1463-1466), a fireplace decorated by Juan Claperós was added in the Saló del Tinell, as well as 60 terracotta tiles in the Chapel's pavement, portraying angels and the coats of arms of Aragon, and the altarpiece of the Epiphany by painter Jaume Huguet

Jaume Huguet

Jaume Huguet was a Catalan painter.Originally from Valls, he moved to Tarragona to stay with his uncle Pere Huguet, who was also a painter. When they moved to Barcelona he was exposed to modern trends of the time...

.

After the 16th century the edifice was no longer used as royal residence, and was divided between the Inquisition

Inquisition

The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...

  and the royal administration. In this period the door leading to the Royal Audience Hall was built, with a triangular tympanum

Tympanum

Tympanum may refer to:* Tympanum , an architectural element located within the arch or pediment* Tympanum , a hearing organ/gland in frogs and toads, a flat red oval on both sides of a frog's head* Tympanum, in biology, the eardrum...

 (now the entrance of the Museu Frederic Marès).

The Palau de Lloctinent was constructed in 1549-1557 by Antoni Carbonell, in late Gothic-Renaissance style. Also from this period is the so-called Mirador of King Martin, a five-storey tower on a rectangular plan (1555).