The gorgeous 15th-century sandstone Sa Llotja, opposite the waterfront, was built as a merchants’ stock exchange. Designed by the Mallorcan sculptor Guillem Sagrera (who also worked on the cathedral) and completed in 1448, it is the apogee of civilian Gothic building on the island. Its mercantile past well behind it, Sa Llotja is now used for temporary exhibitions.
Inside, six slender, twisting columns lead to the ribs of a lofty groined vault. In each corner of the building rises a fanciful octagonal tower. The flanks are marked with huge arches, fine tracery and monstrous-looking gargoyles leaning out overhead.