The most desirable style of residence for wealthy merchants and other well off habitants was a palace (basically city chateaux with an integrated shop or workshop). The proportions of many of these city chateaux were determined by the footprint of older buildings dating from the urban structure of medieval times. Construction of the first palaces influenced the overall urban concept of the town’s future development. Use of antique decorative elements was a symbol of the owner’s status and an investment in his overall self-promotion and legitimating. The word “palace” is derived from Roman palatinum, a settlement for wealthy citizens in antique Rome.