Palazzo dei Trecento

Palazzo dei Trecento, also known as the Palazzo della Ragione, is Treviso's medieval town hall. Built in brick for the assemblies of the free commune, it remains the seat of the city council; its great hall preserves medieval frescoes and the painted arms of former podestà.

Why it matters

The palace gave architectural form to Treviso's communal government. The municipality dates construction from around 1185, with completion in 1268. The hall served the Tribunal of the Consuls and the Maggior Consiglio, an assembly of three hundred members from which the building takes its name. It remains in civic use. The palace was severely damaged in the bombing of 7 April 1944 and subsequently restored, with its wall paintings recovered.

What to notice

The exposed-brick Romanesque exterior has an open ground-floor loggia with broad arches. Three-light windows illuminate the Salone dei Trecento, whose ceiling is supported by wooden trusses. Frescoes from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries cover the walls. A band on three sides lists the arms and names of the podestà who governed Treviso. The back wall contains a Madonna and Child with Saints above representations of the four cardinal virtues. The external staircase toward Piazza Indipendenza and the loggia give the palace a strong presence in the surrounding civic square.

Context and history

Conceived as the assembly hall of the free commune, the palace later served under seigneurial and Venetian rule. External staircases were demolished in 1810; the east staircase was reconstructed in 1906 under engineer Paolo Mussetti. An Allied air raid on 7 April 1944 wrecked the palace and much of central Treviso. The municipality's postwar restoration saved the building from demolition and recovered its frescoes. The Salone has returned to use for city council sessions, exhibitions and civic ceremonies.