The communal palaces of medieval Italian cities

One of the most enduring legacy of Communal Italy is represented by the Town hall, palatium comunis as it was called to mark the achievement made by the local governments. Many Italian piazzas are dominated by these public palaces whose origins, in some cases, can be traced back to the late 12th century, after the peace of Constance. The palatium comunis, a multi-functional building, underwent several transformations to effectively embody values and needs of those urban societies, which this paper aims to illustrate. For this reason an overview of the different cases of Italian town hall, over a period spanning two centuries will be given. Topography and functions of these public buildings will be considered in relation to understand how they, giving a strong sense of city’s sovereignty, shaped a new landscape in medieval towns.