Palazzo della Ragione

Padua, Italy

The Palazzo della Ragione is a medieval town hall in Padua. The building, with its great hall on the upper floor, is reputed to have the largest roof unsupported by columns in Europe; the hall is nearly rectangular, its length 81.5m, its breadth 27m, and its height 24 m; the walls are covered with allegorical frescoes; the building stands on arches, and the upper storey is surrounded by an open loggia, not unlike that which surrounds the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza.

The Palazzo was begun in 1172 and finished in 1219. In 1306, Fra Giovanni, an Augustinian friar, covered the whole with one roof; originally there were three roofs, spanning the three chambers into which the hall was at first divided; the internal partition walls remained till the fire of 1420, when the Venetian architects who undertook the restoration removed them, throwing all three spaces into one and forming the present great hall, the Salone. The new space was refrescoed by Nicolò Miretto and Stefano da Ferrara, working from 1425 to 1440.

A tornado destroyed the roof and damaged the building on 17 August 1756.

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Address

Sotto Il Salone 51, Padua, Italy
See all sites in Padua

Details

Founded: 1172-1219
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Italy

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Maroš Petrík (2 years ago)
one hall with painted walls. For 8€ not mych to see.
David Liu (2 years ago)
A great view of the square from second floor and the hall is big with beautiful frescos and a large wooden horse. You can listen to English introduction by scanning a qr code and downloading an app.
Meg Dods (3 years ago)
Visiting Palazzo della Ragione is just mind blowing. There is so much to see, so much beauty and detail. I felt like a kid in a sweet shop.
Skywalker Feng (3 years ago)
While the hall is big, the wooden horse is huge, the wall paintings about zodiac signs are interesting, that's all about it. If you look closer, the actual wall paintings are no longer original, it was completely destroyed and repainted multiple times in history, the current paintings were done a couple of decades ago, their artistic value simply cannot compete with the original paintings of the past. Another annoyance is the lack of English description in the great hall, all the presentations are in Italian only.
Randy Hilarski (3 years ago)
Secret Enclosed. I absolutely fell in love with this building. There is so much to see in this giant building. The roof has been rebuilt twice due to disasters. I really liked hunting for the zodiac frescos respresenting my families symbols. Secret revealed, find the sun with the hole in the middle. Once per day the sun lines up perfectly and shines on the ley lines which are marked on the floor. Thank you HEX Crypto for making this possible.
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