General Archive of the Indies

The Archivo General de Indias (Spanish pronunciation: [arˈtʃiβo xeneˈɾal de ˈindias], "General Archive of the Indies"), housed in the ancient merchants' exchange of Seville, Spain, the Casa Lonja de Mercaderes, is the repository of extremely valuable archival documents illustrating the history of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and the Philippines. The building itself, an unusually serene and Italianate example of Spanish Renaissance architecture, was designed by Juan de Herrera. This structure and its contents were registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.