The General Archive of Simancas

The General Archive of Simancas is an archival project conceived by Philip II in 1580. The project was designed and constructed by the royal architect Juan de Herrera, and was the first custom-built archive. It preserves coherent documentation created by the political and administrative structures of the Spanish Monarchy until the 19t Century, including the Habsburg Councils, the Bourbon Secretariats and the Treasury department. The archive holds important information on the global history; providing complete and in detail information on the European and global territorial history from the 16th to the 19th century.