This is one of the most impressive facades in the distinctive style of Catalan Gothic architecture. It skilfully solves the problem posed by the irregular line of the street with two walls, achieving an elegant and compositionally balanced solution. The two rows of mullioned windows give the facade an imposing air while enhancing its beauty. The larger windows, each with two thin columns, offer a glimpse of the nobility of the Palau’s most significant interior spaces.

On each side of the main entrance, marked by the coat of arms of Saint George, are the doorways once used by guards, as indicated by the relief figures on the keystones. One of them still serves as an entrance and control point for staff and services.

The Antoni Clavé Rooms adjoin the Conference Room and occupy the rest of the space under the Courtyard of the Orange Trees. They are named after the prominent Catalan artist Antoni Clavé i Sanmartí (1913–2005), who was commissioned to paint a series of large pieces for the space, which are displayed together with a selection of his earlier and especially significant pieces.

The rooms serve as an antechamber to the Conference Room and also lead to the new press room.

The Central Courtyard is an extraordinary exponent of the characteristic courtyards that Catalan noble houses built from the 13th century on were organised around. Thanks to its distinctiveness, beauty and good state of conservation, this is probably the best example.

Notable architectural features of the courtyard, which is characterised by late-Gothic forms, include an architecture of clear, broad and rich spaces, surrounded by interior walls, with extensive openwork on the first-floor gallery. On the ground floor, the Central Courtyard is very open, to a second courtyard that leads to Carrer del Bisbe. The abundance and quality of sculpture elements is also noteworthy, from the smallest pieces on the staircase to the 26 expressive gargoyles that adorn the perimeter of the opening to the sky. Each gargoyle is attached to a pilaster topped with a pinnacle, and between them are the openings of a sunny gallery. Everything has a stately elegance, but it is also a welcoming space that to this day efficiently performs the basic functions it was designed for, serving as a reception and presentation space, as well as providing access to other parts of the building.

The courtyard can be reached through the doorway on Carrer del Bisbe, from Carrer de Sant Honorat, or from the entrance hall adjacent to Plaça Sant Jaume.

The mezzanine floor houses the Protocol and External Relations Office. Institutional events of the Ministry of the Presidency and the Catalan government are organised in these offices, and staff work on matters related to the representation of the institution and the president at events held at the Palau and elsewhere.

The gallery and upper-floor offices are reached via an elegant open staircase on one side of the courtyard.

The entrance from Carrer del Bisbe is of great interest from a heritage standpoint. It features a sculptural work in stone that is a masterpiece of Gothic art. The piece centres on a depiction of Saint George on horseback, in high relief, inside a medallion that forms part of the crowning balustrade of the wall. The work has been praised for its detail, rhythm, expressiveness and realism. The sculptor, Pere Joan, started working on it when he was just 20.

The balustrade that crowns the wall is embellished with a frieze of blind arches that rise from 27 small figures, which, thanks to their realism and vividness, seem to capture the faces of passers-by in 1418.

The false gargoyles that project from the base are also highly expressive. One of them, next to the medallion, depicts the princess from the legend of Saint George.

In addition to conveying a sense of the power of the institution on a street that was more important than Sant Honorat, this large doorway on Carrer del Bisbe also gave access, on the same level, to the courtyard. As a result, it is still used today as an entrance for service vehicles.

The Plaça Sant Jaume Facade was built around 1600. At the time, it gave onto a space much smaller than the current one, which began to take shape following the demolition of the old Saint James Church in 1823. The facade was intended to open the building up to the most prestigious place in the city while also expanding it with the addition of new spaces.

The architect, Pere Blai, built the best and most monumental example of Renaissance civil architecture in Catalonia. The facade is a beautiful, original work – well composed, with a variety of materials, colours and textures. It has the air of a Renaissance Roman palace and evokes Michelangelo’s work on the Senatorial Palace in Rome.

Within the niche, sculpted in relief, are busts of the three members of the Generalitat who commissioned the construction of the facade, including the entire Renaissance section and the part on the north side, as far as Carrer de Sant Sever. The upper part of the facade displays the coat of arms with the Cross of Sant Jordi, a distinguishing symbol of the institution. The sculpture of Catalonia’s patron saint was executed by Andreu Aleu in 1860.