Palazzo dei Consoli

Built between 1332 and 1338 according to a plan by Angelo of Orvieto (whose name appears in the inscription on the portal of the monument), it is one of the most beautiful public halls in Italy. Four big buttresses divide the façade on the square into thee parts; in the middle a fan-shaped staircase leads up to the portal flanked by centrally mullioned windows. On the first floor there are three pairs of cambered windows, decorated by a denticulate cornice. The top is crowned by small ogival arches and guelphic merlons. On the left rises the slender, crenellated bell-tower. The “Big Bell” (“Il Campanone”), which the bell-ringers ring with their feet, dates back to 1769 and weighs 2 tons. The other sides of the palace repeat the form of the façade, except for one facing the valley, where a narrow wing was added, with an air loggia on top, and an unfinished communication ramp at the bottom. Inside, the stately barrel-vaulted main hall and the rooms on the floor above are now home to the Municipal Museum (Museo Comunale).