English: The Lonja de la Seda by the Catalan architect Pere Compte was built between 1482 and 1533 as the silk exchange and is a fine example of Flamboyant Flemish Gothic style. For centuries, Valencia was an important producer and international exporter of silk textiles, employing twenty five thousand workers by the late eighteenth century. The spiral fluted columns of this contracting hall support a magnificent star-ribbed vault. The bills pasted on the door include one for an American or British steamship company. (Julio Ainaud for the Laurent Company)