Courtyard of Sant Jaume and Sant Maties

The set of Royal Colleges, together with the Church of Sant Domènec are one of the most important Renaissance complexes in the whole Catalonia. Their architecture has a fairly simple facade. In the central part there is a gateway where the imperial coat of arms of its founder, Charles I, is represented. The figures of Saint Jaume and Saint Maties, patrons of the college, appear in niches crowned by an angel figure, the Guardian Angel, patron saint of the city.

The structure of the courtyard, entirely Italian, is the work of the sculptor Francisco Montehermoso and displays a rich iconography that exalts the monarchy. In the second gallery we can find a frieze sculpted with the effigies and coats of arms of the royal couples of the Crown of Aragon, from Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronilla of Aragon to Philip III and Margaret of Austria.

In the spandrels of the first gallery we can find busts of those who appear to be Jews and Moors, and in those of the second, we can find the effigies of prophets and apostles inside medallions. The symbols of the evangelists are represented on the ground floor of the courtyard, while in the second gallery, on the outside, and taking up the corners, we can find four masks that personify the winds.

The building, also called Col·legi de dalt (Upper School), was originally devoted to the instruction of the children of converts as part of the strategy designed by the Crown of Aragon to evangelise and culturally assimilate the Moors. It currently houses the Baix Ebre Regional Archive.