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Palazzo del Podestà


It was the first seat of the city government exercised precisely by the Podestà and his judges and officers. The original structure was not very different from today's: under the vaults of the portico and all around there were the lively shops of merchants, greengrocers and artisans, while under the stairs to the first floor the notaries stipulated deeds and contracts. From the outset he had a bell tower called the arengo to summon the citizens in case of extraordinary events (assemblies, wars ...). Originally, however, it had to be a wooden construction that was replaced in 1259 by today's quadrangular terracotta tower built by Alberto di S. Pietro. The four corner pillars that support the tower form a cross vault called 'Voltone del Podestà' where in 1525 the terracotta statues of the patron saints of the city were molded by Alfonso Lombardi: S. Petronio, S. Procolo, S. Domenico and St. Francis. A particular acoustic effect allows visitors to talk softly from the opposite corners of the vault. On a model of Aristotile Fioravanti, who placed the present bell in 1453, the Romanesque façade was renovated in Renaissance style by the will of the lord of the city, Giovanni II Bentivoglio. The renovation started between 1484-94 with the collaboration of Marsilio Infrangipani for the decorative part in rusticated but remains unfinished. On the main floor, the large hall of the Podestà, already used as a public theater between the 16th and 18th centuries, then a room for playing football was frescoed in the first decade of the 20th century by Adolfo De Carolis and students with famous episodes from the history of Bologna

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Piazza Maggiore, 1 Bologna (Bologna)