Palacio de la Legislatura de Salta, Government palace in central Salta, Argentina

The Palacio Legislativo de Salta, known as the Casa de los Leones, is an Italianate academicist building begun in 1892 and finished in 1902. Its orange-pastel walls carry white moldings, and above the three arches of the main balconies are friezes of Science, Labor and Justice. It holds the provincial chambers of deputies and senators, offices and a library of over twenty thousand volumes.

The palace was planned in 1889 under governor Martín Gabriel Güemes to replace the Cabildo de Salta, sold to private owners, as the provincial congress. Work began in 1892 under the Swiss-Italian architect Francisco Righetti, who was replaced by Vicente Arquetti in 1893. Funds ran out by January 1900; donations from Juliana Castillo de Caballero, who died that February without heirs, allowed the work to continue, and it was finished in 1902 under Fernando Solá.

The building earned its nickname 'House of Lions' from the sculptured lions decorating its exterior and interior spaces. These animal figures have become part of how locals identify and speak about this place.

The palace stands in the heart of Salta's center and is easily accessible from main streets. Access inside can sometimes be limited due to legislative sessions, so morning visits often work best.

The frieze above the central balcony shows Justice as a woman without a blindfold, her scales tilted to one side. Some historians link this to the anarchist ideas of the workers who built the palace between 1892 and 1902.