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Origin and history

The Perpignan Sea Lodge is an iconic Catalan Gothic civil building built between the late 14th and 16th centuries. Originally conceived as a multi-purpose venue, it housed both the Consulate of the Sea (Maritime Commercial Court), the Municipal Consulate (Maritime), and served as the seat of the Local Delegation of the Generalitat. Its location, on the present Place de la Loge, made it the central centre of the medieval city, where judicial, economic and political powers were crossed. The construction began after Martin I's authorization to Aragon in 1397, on the site of an old skin market (pella), with an arcade ground floor serving as a purse and a floor dedicated to the court.

The building was completed in two major phases: the first, at the beginning of the 15th century, includes a carved balustrade delivered from Barcelona in 1439, while the second, in 1540, doubled its area under Charles Quint, faithfully reproducing the original style. A commemorative plaque between the arcades recalls this extension, financed by the Consuls Honorat Forner and Francesc Mates. The decorated ceiling on the ground floor, the intermediate arcades, and a chapel (whose altarpiece of 1489 is today at the Rigaud Museum) testify to its architectural richness. The ship-shaped girouette, symbol of maritime activities, always crowns the building.

In the 18th century, La Loge lost its commercial function and was transformed into a theatre in 1751 by the Count of Mailly, resulting in the destruction of the ceiling and the transfer of the altarpiece. After the Revolution, it served as a depository before being restored in 1841 by the city, which set up a café on the ground floor and the Arago Room on the first floor (present municipal council hall). Ranked a Historical Monument in 1840, it underwent restorations in 1912 and 1951, losing its neo-Gothic carpentry to a return to its original style. In 2017, the town hall purchased the commercial lease to install the tourist office.

Architecturally, the Lodge is distinguished by its contrasting facades: that of rue des Marchands, with broken arcades and bays divided into lancettes, evokes the beginning of the works (ca. 1400–1405), while the facade on the square, with its twin windows with hanging keys, reflects the 15th century. The coats of arms of the Consulate of Mer, partially erased after 1659 (attached to France), show Saint Jean-Baptiste on waves, symbol of maritime exchanges. The sculptures of the sixteenth and fifteenth centuries, deliberately imitated, emphasize stylistic continuity.

The Sea Lodge embodies the Golden Age of Perpignan as a commercial hub between Catalonia and the Mediterranean. Its history reflects political changes (from Aragon to France), economics (decline of the consulate in the eighteenth century), and cultural (reuses successively). Today, it remains a symbol of the Catalan heritage in Occitanie, mixing past civic functions and contemporary uses.

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