Broletto (Palazzo del Governo)

The Broletto is a complex of medieval halls, towers and porticoes beside Brescia's cathedral square. It houses municipal, provincial and prefectural offices, and its Sala dei Cavalieri preserves a fresco cycle about fifty-two metres long.

Why it matters

The Broletto has remained an administrative centre since its medieval construction. The Sala dei Cavalieri contains a fresco cycle about fifty-two metres long, painted in the second half of the thirteenth century with scenes of civic life, including the expulsion of the city's enemies; it was restored in 2012–2013. The building is also an architectural timeline: structures range from the twelfth to the twentieth century, and post-war restoration after bomb damage recovered the east and north wings with considerable care.

What to notice

The Torre del Pègol is the oldest structure in the complex and rises fifty-four metres. An eight-hundred-kilogram bell hung there in 1235 and was later melted down to cast four smaller bells. In the courtyard, the eighteenth-century fountain stands at its centre, amid buildings and porticoes from successive regimes: the Palazzo Novum Majus and Novum Minus, the Portico Malatestiano, the Loggiato Da Lezze, the former church of Sant'Agostino and the old Venetian magistrature offices, now the Emeroteca.

Context and history

Brescia's commune began raising this palace soon after the twelfth century, as Italian cities asserted self-government through purpose-built civic complexes. Over roughly a hundred years and successive regimes — signorie, Venetian rule, the Austrian government that gave the building its later name of Palazzo del Governo — wings, porticoes and the tower were added or rebuilt. The Second World War left serious damage, and the post-war reconstruction became itself part of the monument's history, restoring the east and north quarters to their historic form. The building thus records every chapter of Brescia's public life, from medieval factional struggles painted on its walls to the offices that administer the city today.