Palacio de la Chancillería

The Palacio de la Chancillería is a building located in Plaza Nueva. It was built by order of Charles I between 1531 and 1587 to house the Royal Chancery of Granada.

It currently houses the headquarters of the High Court of Justice of Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla. It was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest and is considered to be the most emblematic Mannerist work in the city. It was the first building of its kind to be constructed in Spain to house a court of justice.

The building was constructed by order of Charles I and work began in 1531 and continued until 1587, when the façade and staircase were completed under the reign of Philip II. It consists of two parts: the Chancery and the Royal Prison, joined by a triangular interior nave.

The façade is the work of the architect Francisco del Castillo el Mozo, although it was built by the stonemason Martín Díaz de Navarrete and the sculptures by Alonso Hernández, and is the most emblematic work of Mannerism in the city of Granada. It is divided into two sections: in the lower part there are three lintelled doors that allow access to the building and the upper section consists of six balconies with Corinthian columns, the central one being the largest and on which rests a royal coat of arms and statues of La Justicia and La Fortaleza, both seated on the pediment. A slight cornice divides the two floors and above the whole there is a sober stone balustrade topped with high decorative pinnacles with carved pyramids and a small temple that houses the clock in the centre, a late 16th-century work that was located on the left side of the building until 1806, replacing the marble medallion with the figure of Charles III that is currently located at the top of the staircase.

The main courtyard is attributed to the work of Diego de Siloé. It dates from 1540 and is made up of two porticoed sections with semicircular arches supported by tall Tuscan columns of white marble. In the centre is a polygonal fountain.

The monumental three-flight staircase leading to the upper floor, located in the northwest corner of the courtyard, is the work of the stonemason Pedro Marín, in collaboration with the sculptor Alonso Hernández. It was made during the reign of Philip II, a fact that is attested not only by the monarch's coat of arms represented on a glass panel of the open tondo, but also by a cartouche on the upper part and an inscription on one of the tops of the iron handrail.

Located at the rear of the building, it functioned as such until the end of the 19th century. It is a construction with two courtyards, one of which, accessed through the nave that joins the two parts of the building, is similar in layout to that of the Chancery and dates from the 16th century. It also has a polygonal fountain in its centre.

The second courtyard of the Royal Prison only has porticoes on the north and west fronts. It has a small pillar attached to it with lion's head-shaped masks that function as spouts. The upper body, of smaller proportions, repeats the layout of the ground floor. In this part of the building there are also two towers that housed the dungeons. In 1926, this part of the building was restored in order to install the Municipal and Magistrates' Courts in the side naves.