The Casa de l’Ardiaca, a former residence for this ecclesiastical office, was built around the 12th century, incorporating part of Barcelona’s ancient Roman wall. At the end of the 15th century, Archdeacon Lluís Desplà rebuilt it in the Gothic style with Renaissance elements.

In the 19th century, following its secularization, it passed into the hands of bourgeois owners who completed the cloister-style courtyard based on a design by architect Josep Garriga, and also made various interior modifications in line with the tastes of the period.

In 1895, it became the headquarters of the Barcelona Bar Association, and from this time dates the famous Modernista mailbox by Lluís Domènech i Montaner.

The building was acquired by the Barcelona City Council in 1919 to house the Historical Archive of the City, with renovations overseen by architect Josep Goday.