A large medieval house was built 600 years ago in Barcelona, Spain. By the 19th century, it was a chocolate factory.
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Now, archaeologists are exploring the remains of the ancient building, revealing artifacts from the structure’s various uses, according to a Feb. 12 news release from the Barcelona Archaeology Service.
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Experts said the remains of the estate they found date to the 19th century, but further exploration revealed walls with arches and doors from a medieval home built in the 14th century.
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The large house was converted to a hostel, known as the Hostal de Sant Pere, in the 15th century, archaeologists said. It served as a hostel until the 16th century, when the owner decided to renovate and update the building.
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At the beginning of the 18th century, the property was split in three, according to officials.
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Within the next 100 or so years, the former home and hostel was transformed into a chocolate factory and workshop, archaeologists said. The Almanac of the Universal Exhibition of 1888 lists the property as “Guardia (Clemente). Chocolates and pastillaje.”
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A video shows a 3D rendering of the huge building.
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Inside the building, archaeologists unearthed several engraved lead plates. The plates would have been used to make labels for the chocolates, specifying that they came from the Clemente Guardia factory.
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Archaeologists found other artifacts linked to the later use of the structure, too.
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A collection of seven large ceramic vessels were discovered, experts said. The vessels have not yet been excavated or analyzed, so their contents are unknown.
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Google Translate was used to translate a news release from Barcelona Archaeology Service.
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Moira Ritter covers real-time news for McClatchy. She graduated from Georgetown University, where she studied government, journalism, and German. She previously served as a reporter at CNN Business.