Mantova, Palazzo del Podestà

The Palazzo del Podestà or Broletto of the 13th century, occupies the southern side of the piazza bearing the same name. It was erected in 1227 by Loredengo Martinengo of Brescia, invested that year with the authority of podestà of Mantova. It was the residence of the podestà and his assistants and was therefore the centre of political power until the dominion of the Bonacolsi, due to which the municipal institutions lost importance. It was readapted in Renaissance style during the Gonzaga dominion and therefore the palazzo preserves both testimonies: of the 13th century, in the arched and ogival openings; of the 14th century, in the rectangular openings framed in brick and in the closed battlements.
On the façade, above a Gothic inscription commemorating the construction of the building, in an acute-arched niche, a statue of an unknown artist represents Virgilio in Cattedra, on which the scripture "Virgilius Mantuanus Poetarum Clarissimus" is engraved, to testify the role of the poet in the history of the Mantova community. In the right corner of the palazzo the Torre Comunale (Municipal Tower) rises, that held, in addition to the bell used to call the citizens to assembly, the cells of the prisoners.
The Palazzo, a private residence, can be visited only externally.