Palazzo dei Priori

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Palazzo dei Priori
Piazza dei Priori
Volterra, September 2021

“The city hall is housed in the Palazzo dei Priori, one of the oldest palazzos still surviving in Tuscany. At almost 800 years old it is the province's oldest seat of continuous local government. This lavishly decorated building was the inspiration for the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. An inscription near the main entrance tells visitors that the palace was designed by Maestro Riccardo in the early XIII century. The XII century witnessed decades of violent conflict between the nobility and the rule of bishops. This reached a climate mid-century when Galgano dei Pannocchieschi became the region's bishop. His rule was so unpopular that feudal lords and the town's growing middle classes united against him leading to the building of the Palazzo dei Priori as a symbol of the free commune. This newly formed commune purchased rights for the extraction of salt (the town's main source of income at the time), sulfur, vitriol or sulfuric acid, and alum from the surrounding areas of Larderello, Libbiano, and Sasso. However, the commune soon found itself struggling against the territorial expansion of Siena, Pisa and Florence. The three-story Palazzo dei Priori is built entirely of local stone. The facade is finished with cornices and crowned with semi-circular battlements, probably added in the XVI century. It is adorned with double arched windows and Della Robbia glazed terracotta arms of Florentine magistrates, added in the XV century. It also carries the canna volterrana, or medieval standard measurement of the commune, engraved between a banner and torch holders. In the late XV century, the palazzo became the seat of the Captain of Justice at which point two Marzocco lions, a Florentine symbol, were added to the facade.” (Palazzo dei Priori, ItalyGuide.it)