Tudela, a very refurbished town hall

The Town Hall of Tudela is located in the heart of the historic center, in the area of the second expansion, next to the cathedral. Throughout history, this building and the space in front of its main façade have been fundamental in the city's urban planning development and have been the scene of significant events, also housing a wide variety of services.

The municipality of Tudela had its first known council in the cloisters of the collegiate church, now the cathedral, where the municipal file was also kept since ancient times. It met, at least as early as 1268, in a chamber on the west side, where the dean's house was later located.

The current seat of the town hall is a building constructed at the end of the XV century, on the ruins of another one, which had been property of Mosen Pierres de Peralta. The continuous and successive reforms that it has undergone up to the present time have deformed its primitive state in such a way that it can hardly be guessed how it was.

At the time of the acquisition, in 1490, the buildings were practically in ruins and served as an almudi, and for a time the audiences were held on the second floor. In the following years the entire complex was re-roofed and in 1498 a complete renovation of the building was carried out, affecting doors, windows, floors and benches. Four decades later, another major renovation was undertaken, which affected the foundations and the urbanization of the courtyard, costing 5,000 ducats.

In 1562, Pedro Legasa built the tower, known as such because it is the first body of the building with a façade facing Cárcel Vieja Street, where three Gothic windows are preserved. The other sections, documented since the 16th century, included a jail that functioned until the 19th century. In the middle of that century improvements were made to the tower, but the most significant renovation took place between 1978 and 1982, when a limestone plinth was added on the floor leave and blind brick arches were opened on the top floor, eliminating the rendering and leaving exposed brick in the two upper sections.

Returning to the main façade, in 1575 the three windows of the main floor were converted into balconies, and the coat of arms of the city was placed on each one, a task that was carried out at position by Hernando de Ávia. Two years later, the commodities exchange and the rooms of the conference room leave were built. By the middle of the 17th century, the building had a floor plan leave and two stories, with a façade supported by brick arches and mostly adobe walls, in addition to a long attached bench. On the second floor was the "chamber of the secret", which was the plenary hall and the most ornate place in the house. In 1685, Manuel Pontón began the construction of a belfry to place the bells in the regiment, which also entailed a structural reform of the façade, carried out by Luís García, in which the coat of arms made in 1582 by Bernal de Gabadi was repositioned.

No major works are known until 1938, because of the great deterioration of the house, especially in its lower part. The entire building was stabilized, the decorative bands disappeared and the facade was divided into four sections by horizontal strips. The frames of the openings were maintained, although the niches over the lintels of the low side doors were blinded. The last major renovation was carried out in 1994, recovering the facade, cellars and noble rooms of the town hall.

As for the interior, first of all the hallway stands out, a large porticoed space formed by triple arches on each of its three sides, except on the access portal , where the central arch is larger and gives access to the interior and to the main stairs. The arches are enclosed by wood and glass lattices, and the floor, tiled in stone, has the emblem of the city engraved on it, a motif that is repeated as decoration on the roof.

The main staircase, whose origins date back to the 16th century, was completely renovated in 1796, and the access arch from the floor leave was rebuilt, supporting the staircase on the existing columns. On the walls, along the three bays, squares and pilasters with continuous moldings were carved and marked, and the cornice was made of brick. Window openings were left to receive light from the interior courtyard and a vault was built and decorated with windows and stained glass windows. This design was maintained until the mid-twentieth century, when the current staircase was built, wider, and the walls were covered with marble, covering the entire surface of the central courtyard and closing it with a stained glass window, according to the architect Arraiza's project .

On the second floor were located the mayor's office and several meeting rooms, standing out above the others the "chamber of the secret" or plenary hall. This space was renovated in the middle of the century, decorated with cornices, pillars and arches of mainly decorative function, framing the door and window openings. Leaded stained glass windows were installed on the balconies to replace those made by the master glassmaker Matías de Logroño in 1715.

The upper floors have been used for the functions of the public administration and auxiliary rooms since the middle of the 20th century, as they were previously reserved for the dwellings of the porter and the warden. Among the most interesting rooms is the rich Municipal file , which was transferred to the building from the cathedral in the nineteenth century.