It was built during the reign Nazari , prior to 1336 , and his original name was Al-Funduq al-Gidida or New Alhóndiga. Located south of the Muslim city , near the silk market or Alcaiceria , the souk in the Medina, and the Great Mosque, served as inn for merchants in transit, warehousing and wholesale market. A small bridge that was called al-Qantara al-Jadida (New Bridge) until 1501, and later carbon bridge or bridge or bridge Alamo Tanners (qantarat al-Dabbayin), located on the river Darro communicated with the Corn Exchange the souk . In general, as we described Leopoldo Torres Balbas (Chronicles of Archaeology Muslim Spain, XIX. 2.PP Tomo 235), the building responds to an Eastern model, but the decor and the details are distinctly Grenadian. His ancestry can be traced from the Greek agora, through the Romans after horreas until Islamic times. The title comes from the eastern monumental iwan, whose origins are controversial, and that is already in the Sassanid palaces. Transmission to the West would be through the Egypt, where the entrance portico opened by a large arch, vaulted with stalactites, and at the bottom of the door lintel is access to the building, and a window above twin is very architectural layout widespread. It is for example in Cairo in the Al-Zahir Baybars I (665-1309) or Granada with the Gate of Justice in Alhambra (749-1348).

In 1494 the Catholic Monarchs granted it to Sancho de Arana. At his death ( 1531 ) he went to auction, hosting being used as charcoal, later as comedy theater (until 1593 ) and then tenement. It was declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument in 1918 , but was threatened with demolition until it was acquired by the state in 1933 , which commissioned its restoration to Leopoldo Torres Balbas . In 1992 he was again restored by the architect Rafael Soler Márquez, although some flaws that were not corrected until another restoration remained. The cover was operated with cleaning treatments and consolidation by the company Centuries Conservation and Restoration, sl, under the direction of the restorative Lola Blanca Lopez Blanca Lopez and Lourdes. Intervention completed in November 2006 .