Ragione Palace

The bottom floor of this building is a daily fresh food market with stalls of vendors selling cheeses, cured meats, produce, etc.

The upper floor is this single large room with a wooden ceiling and tons of Frescoes by Giotto. It's interesting because the Frescoes are not all religious themes. They are also in very good condition. Among them is a complete astrological cycle.

It is believed the building lies over the site of an ancient Roman forum. The palazzo was built in 1218-1219.  It originally housed on the bottom floor, craftsmens shops, money changers, and even a small prison. The upper floor contained the law courts.  The original ceiling contained vast frescoes that were decorated to represent a real sky view with over 7000 stars.  The roof burned in 1420 and was rebuilt by a naval architect using the same structure as the bottom of a ship and the frescoes were repainted. A hurricane damaged the roof again in 1756.  The roof was reconstructed in 1759 but the star field was not restored.

The giant wooden horse was donated by the Capodilista family in 1837.  It had been built in 1466 for a public tournament.

In the north east corner there is a "Stone of Shame", placed there in 1231 at the request of Saint Anthony.  It was used to punish insolvent debtors.  According to a statute dating to 1261, debtors, wearing only their underwear, had to sit on the stone three times uttering the words "I renounce my worldly goods".  They were then banished from the city. If they returned and were caught, they had to repeat the procedure but this time three buckets of water were poured on their heads.

On the southern wall is a relief showing a golden sun.  At midday, a ray of sunlight passes through its mouth and strikes the floor along a meridian line.

To get an idea of the real scale of this place, check out our very short video at our Youtube channel here:  Palazzo Ragione