Palazzo del Podestà, Bologna

The Palazzo del Podestà is a civic building in Bologna, northern Italy.

The edifice was built around 1200 as the seat of the local podestà, the various functionaries of the commune. It stands on the Piazza Maggiore, near the Palazzo Comunale and facing the Basilica of San Petronio. Proving insufficient for the massive participation of the people in the city's government, it was in 1245 flanked by the Palazzo Re Enzo, over which stands the Torre dell'Arengo, whose bell was used to call the people during emergencies.

The Palazzo del Podestà is a long building, with a large hall on the upper floor. The lower floor is a double open arcade, the so-called Voltone del Podestà, through which pass two lanes of shops.

In 1453, Aristotile Fioravanti replaced the bell and reconstructed the original Gothic façade in the Renaissance style by order of Giovanni II Bentivoglio. In the Voltone, in 1525, were placed the terracotta statues of the city's protectors, Sts. Petronius, Proculus, Dominic and Francis, all by Alfonso Lombardi.

In the 16th–18th centuries, the Palazzo was used as a theatre. In the 20th century, it was frescoed by Adolfo de Carolis.

Text adapted from “Palazzo del Podestà, Bologna” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Palazzo del Podestà, Bologna ranks #1,749 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #134 of the 452 mapped in Italy. Founded c. 1200, it is older than 77% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 544 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,952 times in the last 60 days, more than 66% of the atlas. 8 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bologna, 1 km away. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.

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