Plan of the House of Trade's Warehouses.

Plan of the warehouses designed for equipment for the King of Spain's galleons.

One of the House of Trade's many responsibilities was the preparation and coordination of the fleets' ships. This was an essential part of trade with the Americas. As well as providing a route to the safety of Seville's inland port, the Guadalquivir River was also a logistics hub for overseas trade. Sailing upstream on the Guadalquivir River was fairly difficult, as a result of which several intermediary ports were established between its entrance at Sanlúcar de Barrameda and the city of Seville itself. These ports, with their warehouses and workshops for storage, repairs, and even the building of the ships that would embark on the Route to the Indies, were located along the main channel and its distributary channels.

One of these sites was located in El Borrego, in the town of Coria del Río. It was here that the House of Trade's warehouses, seen in the image, were planned in 1616. It was a large, fortified building designed to store all kinds of equipment required by the royal galleons, and that the House of Trade was expected to provide. It was surrounded by a wall and a moat, and its location on the river meant that it had its own wharf. The plans show the warehouses for different types of materials, administrative offices, the chapel, kitchens, and even an infirmary.