PALAZZO DELLA RAGIONE E TORRE DELL’OROLOGIO

The palace is part of the nucleus of town buildings that arose during the Middle Ages. The palace was built around the 11th-12th centuries to fulfil public civic functions and was used to hold town assemblies and meetings or, in bad weather, the market held in the square below. The building was altered several times, starting in the mid-13th century. In the 15th century the porticoes were erected and in 1472 the Clock Tower was erected, based on a design by Luca Fancelli. The following year, the Tower was enriched by a public clock designed by the mathematician and astrologer Bartolomeo Manfredi. Used for centuries for the administration of justice, since 1997 it has become the prestigious exhibition venue of the Mantua Civic Museums, hosting numerous important art exhibitions organised by the municipal administration. In the large, imposing hall, the remains of notable frescoes depicting war episodes datable to around the end of the 12th century, as well as sacred history figures signed by Grisopolo from Parma and datable to the mid-13th century, can be seen on the end walls.