Palazzo Comunale di Venzone

Venzone's Palazzo Comunale combines a Gothic loggia with a history of repeated destruction and reconstruction, most recently after the 1976 earthquake.

Why it matters

Built over earlier structures between 1390 and 1410, the town hall reflects the growth of Venzone's communal institutions. Its loggia served as a depot, courtroom and assembly hall. The building's two reconstructions by anastylosis—after the 1945 bombing and again after the 1976 earthquake—make it a notable example of conservation through reassembly of recovered stone.

What to notice

Seven round arches open the loggia toward the piazza and adjoining streets. Frescoes signed by Pomponio Amalteo in 1582 include allegories of the Virtues and a Virgin enthroned with Child. Painted Latin maxims address the work of judges. The council hall contains a sixteenth-century Madonna and a bronze statue of Patriarch Bertrando by Davide Clonfero. Gothic windows, family coats of arms and civic emblems record the town's changing political history.

Context and history

A fire in 1571 destroyed part of the palace and its archives; rebuilding followed in 1574. The building was destroyed by bombing in January 1945 and reconstructed from recovered stones between 1952 and 1959. The 1976 earthquakes damaged it again, leading to dismantling and rebuilding from the foundations between 1979 and 1984. A modern municipal annex was added between 1978 and 1981, echoing the loggia's arcades.