Perugia - Palazzo dei Priori

On the south side of the cathedral in Perugia is the Palazzo dei Priori, also known as the Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall), a massive building in Italian Gothic style (1293 and 1333), with its main front on the Corso Vannucci. On the side facing the Piazza IV Novembre are a griffin (the heraldic emblem of Perugia), a 14th century bronze lion, and chains, all of which commemorate a victory over the Sienese in 1358. On the first floor of the palace, which is entered through the richly decorated main doorway in the Corso, is the splendid Sala dei Notari, on the second floor the Municipal Library (150,000 volumes).