Locality: PAMPLONA (31001)
Address: Calle Florencio Ansoleaga, 10
Zone: The Pamplona Basin
Website: www.cfnavarra.es/camara.comptos
Style: Gothic
Centuries of construction: XIII
Tel.: 848421400
Description
The Cámara de Comptos, built in the 13th century, is the only civil Gothic building that has survived in Pamplona. Declared a National Monument in 1868, it is an essential place to see during a stay in the city.
Located in calle Ansoleaga in the Old Quarter, it was a noble house before becoming what it continues to be today: the seat of the Cámara de Comptos, i.e. the Accounts Tribunal for the Kingdom of Navarre that initially existed between 1524 and 1836. King Carlos II created it in 1365 to improve control over the royal finances.
On the outside of the building we would highlight the pointed arch over the main entrance, the small windows (also pointed) and the coat of arms with the royal arms of Spain. A small passageway covered with a pointed barrel vault gives onto a delightful and peaceful garden with an ancient well in the centre.
It you opt for a guided tour, which takes place every morning on weekdays, you will see coins of the different monarchs of Navarre and financial consultation documents signed by the kings.
A visit to this building allows you to get to know one of the few remaining examples of medieval civil architecture in Pamplona, together with the Palacio de los Virreyes (Palace of the Viceroys, also known as ?Capitanía’), which is now home to the General Archives of Navarre.
The Cámara de Comptos is located in the heart of the old quarter of the city, almost on one of the corners of Plaza San Francisco in calle Ansoleaga, near the church of San Cernin (or San Saturnino). Before it became the seat of the Accounts Tribunal it was the palace of Don Pedro de Berrio, Lord of Otazu.
Despite successive renovations it still maintains its lordly, strong and sober air in its stones, the pointed arch over the entrance, the small windows split with mullions or its tower-like outer appearance.
Over the entrance is a higher section in the form of a tower and coat of arms with the royal arms of Spain, placed there in the 18th century. Go inside and you will discover a small passageway covered with a pointed barrel vault which gives onto a small courtyard where, if you are lucky, you will be able to hear the echo of the bells from the tower of San Cernin.
The Cámara de Comptos was born as a tribunal that specialised in matters of the Treasury. It collected taxes, kept watch over royal assets and minted coins. That was between 1524 and 1836. Around 1840 the building became the seat of the Monuments Commission of Navarre, which was later replaced by the Institución Príncipe de Viana.
In 1980, the Cámara de Comptos was re-established in Navarra as an autonomous body to control public accounts and it returned to its original site in calle Ansoleaga at the end of the 1990s.
The Cámara de Comptos is located in calle Florencio Ansoleaga, 8. Access to the interior courtyard is free on weekdays from 08:00 to 15:00. If you would like a guided tour, which take place on weekdays from 09:00 to 13:30, please phone 848 42 14 00 to reserve a place.