Volterra - Palazzo dei Priori

In the Piazza dei Priori in Volterra, the central square of the medieval town, stands the Palazzo dei Priori (1208-54), now the Town Hall - the oldest in Tuscany. It was the official residence of the podestà and later of the Florentine priori and commissari, as the coats of arms on the facade bear witness. The front of the palazzo is relieved only by a few irregularly disposed windows and narrow horizontal cornices. At either end of the facade are columns bearing the heraldic lion of Florence, the Marzocco.

The Council Chamber, identifiable from the outside by a series of windows on the first floor set closer to each other than on the rest of the facade, is decorated with frescoes, most of which are in the "Historical" style of the 19th century.