Two imposing buildings, the Agia Paraskevi basilica and the House of Vailos, together with the grand plaza between them, evidence the plan for a new administrative, religious and commercial centre during the Venetian rule of the city of Chalkida. The headquarters of the appointed Venetian senate of the lords of Negreponte (as the city was then named), had two floors and a ground level arched gallery (loggia). Over the passage of time, it became altered through the development and changes in the town’s history. The ground floor arches, and also the flooring with the artistic corbels still present today, are evidence of the Venetian democracy.