Description
Palazzo della Ragione, «il Salone» to the people of Padua, is the city's old palace of the law courts, between Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta. Upstairs is an immense hall under a roof shaped like an upturned ship, for a long time the largest raised hall in the world; downstairs, the covered market.
The Salone measures about 80 metres by 27 and rises to almost 40 metres, under a wooden ceiling shaped like a ship's hull. You go up by four staircases at the corners, which still bear the names of the old markets: birds, wine, fruit and wrought iron.
The walls are covered by the astrological cycle of Nicolò Miretto and Stefano da Ferrara, painted in the 15th century following the outline of Giotto's frescoes: more than 300 panels with the twelve months, the signs of the zodiac, the constellations and the trades of nobles, peasants, merchants and ladies. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021.
In the hall rises the wooden horse, almost six metres tall: a Renaissance copy of the horse of Donatello's Gattamelata, built for a parade in 1466 and given to the city in 1837. From the ceiling hangs a Foucault pendulum on a 20-metre wire.
The cycle is also a great sundial: at dawn the sun's rays come in to strike the zodiac sign the sun is in at that moment. Along the floor runs a black and white strip marking the meridian of Padua.
Below the frescoes are discs with animals: under each one sat a judge. Those summoned to court, often illiterate, received a card with their judge's animal and so knew where to go.
Near the east wall is the Stone of Shame. Insolvent debtors had to sit on it three times, in shirt and underpants, giving up their goods before going into exile: hence the Paduan saying «restare in braghe de tea», to be left in linen trousers.
Below the Salone, along two galleries, the historic food shops line up, part of the city's tradition. Outside, next to the Volto della Corda, the old Paduan measures are carved in stone, so customers would not be cheated.
Don't miss
• Salone.
• Astrological cycle.
• Wooden horse.
• Stone of Shame.
• Below the Salone.
Did you know?
The Volto della Corda owes its name to the lashes with the rope dealt out beneath it to bankrupts, swindlers and debtors.
In 1756 a whirlwind tore the roof off the palace: it was rebuilt by Bartolomeo Ferracina, the same man who rebuilt the clock in St Mark's Square in Venice.
The Salone measures about 80 metres by 27 and rises to almost 40 metres, under a wooden ceiling shaped like a ship's hull. You go up by four staircases at the corners, which still bear the names of the old markets: birds, wine, fruit and wrought iron.
The walls are covered by the astrological cycle of Nicolò Miretto and Stefano da Ferrara, painted in the 15th century following the outline of Giotto's frescoes: more than 300 panels with the twelve months, the signs of the zodiac, the constellations and the trades of nobles, peasants, merchants and ladies. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021.
In the hall rises the wooden horse, almost six metres tall: a Renaissance copy of the horse of Donatello's Gattamelata, built for a parade in 1466 and given to the city in 1837. From the ceiling hangs a Foucault pendulum on a 20-metre wire.
The cycle is also a great sundial: at dawn the sun's rays come in to strike the zodiac sign the sun is in at that moment. Along the floor runs a black and white strip marking the meridian of Padua.
Below the frescoes are discs with animals: under each one sat a judge. Those summoned to court, often illiterate, received a card with their judge's animal and so knew where to go.
Near the east wall is the Stone of Shame. Insolvent debtors had to sit on it three times, in shirt and underpants, giving up their goods before going into exile: hence the Paduan saying «restare in braghe de tea», to be left in linen trousers.
Below the Salone, along two galleries, the historic food shops line up, part of the city's tradition. Outside, next to the Volto della Corda, the old Paduan measures are carved in stone, so customers would not be cheated.
Don't miss
• Salone.
• Astrological cycle.
• Wooden horse.
• Stone of Shame.
• Below the Salone.
Did you know?
The Volto della Corda owes its name to the lashes with the rope dealt out beneath it to bankrupts, swindlers and debtors.
In 1756 a whirlwind tore the roof off the palace: it was rebuilt by Bartolomeo Ferracina, the same man who rebuilt the clock in St Mark's Square in Venice.