Narciso Pascual Colomer designed the Palacio de las Cortes, which houses the Spanish Congress of Deputies. Construction began on October 10, 1843, on the site of the Convent of the Holy Spirit, and Queen Isabella II inaugurated it on October 31, 1850. Deputies met in the ballroom of the Royal Theatre during the seven years of building.
The article calls the style Neoclassical. The facade has a six-column Corinthian portico with a pediment bas-relief by Ponciano Ponzano, and two bronze lions flank the stairs, cast from cannons captured in the 1860 African War. The semicircular Session Hall has a glass-domed ceiling, and the library holds about 210,000 volumes.
The palace was extended in the 1980s, 1994 and 2006. It was the site of the attempted coup of February 23, 1981, and bullet holes from that day remain visible.
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