Palazzo della Ragione

Built in 1250, it marks the completion of construction and urban planning in the area, and was therefore also referred to as Palazzo Nuovo.
Luca Fancelli was responsible for establishing the general layout of the building, and directing the façade towards Piazza Erbe, thus creating uniformity in the complex.
The structure, typical of buildings intended for judicial purposes, contains a single hall on the upper floor, where the judges' benches were located.
Below, on the ground floor, there were workshops, shops, and attorney's offices.
The frescoes in the upper hall date back to the end of the Thirteenth century.
They feature a variety of subjects: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the representation of a comet, and maritime and military scenes, all by an artist known as Grixopoulos of Parma.
Access to the hall is also possible through a covered external staircase below the Clock Tower, a wonder of its time, built by Bartolomeo Manfredi and equipped with a mechanism that told not only the time, but also the movements of heavenly bodies.
(Irene Girardini)
Exhibition SiteOutside