in animal furs and finely-woven mats. There were rooms for servants, administrative staff, and military guards, along with kitchens, pantries and storage rooms. The richness of the palace surprised Cortés, which he relayed in letters to Charles I of Spain. The palace also held a chamber reserved for the "tlacxitlan" where a group of elders, presided over by the emperor himself, would settle disputes among the citizenry. After the Conquest, these New Houses were not completely leveled to the ground but were sufficiently destroyed as to make them uninhabitable. Cortés's palace The land and the buildings on it were claimed by Hernán Cortés, who had architects Rodrigo de Pontocillos and Juan Rodríguez rebuild the palace while Cortés lived in the "Old Houses" (now the Nacional Monte de Piedad building) across the plaza from 1521 to 1530. Cortés's palace was a massive fortress with embrasures for cannon at the corners and the mezzanine had crenels for musketeers. The façade had only two doors with arches (medio punto). Inside there were two patios, with a third being built after 1554 and a fourth sometime after that. Its garden was extensive, occupying much of the south and southwest portions of the property up to what is now Correo Mayor Street. The palace has living quarters, offices, two audience rooms, and a tower for gunpowder. A secondary building behind the main one has nineteen windows spanning its façade. It also had a parapet, above which was a clock and a bell. The main courtyard was built large enough so he could entertain visitors with New Spain's first recorded bullfights. The Spanish crown bought the palace from the Cortés family in 1562 to house the Viceregal Palace. It remained so until Mexican Independence in the 1820s. Viceregal palace In 1562, the Spanish Crown bought the palace and land from Martin Cortés, son of Hernán Cortés, retaining much of the Cortés palace features. It was known as the Palacio del Virrey (Palace of the Viceroy) or Casa Real de los Virreyes (Royal House of the Viceroys). Italian Capuchin friar Ilarione da Bergamo included a description of the viceregal palace in his travel narrative. He notes that the building is not just the residence of the viceroy and his family, but also has a number of government offices including the high court (Real Audiencia) and other legal offices, royal treasury agents, attorneys including those of the General