Palazzo del Podestà

The ambitious restoration of Palazzo del Podestà and Palazzo della Ragione, beautiful examples of medieval and Renaissance architecture in Mantua, has a long and complex history. Although the renovation of the buildings had been talked about for a long, the first actual steps were taken in the early 2000s, when the city council defined a plan for the funding of the project. Later, this idea was deeply reviewed, and it was decided that public administration would bear the whole costs of the project. In 2009 an overall plan was outlined, which lead to a competition announcement for the selection of the companies who would be responsible for the work. In 2011 the competition was carried out, but only a year later the earthquake that hit the south-eastern part of the Po Valley completely changed the situation. It was necessary to first complete works to structurally stabilize the buildings, for the protection against seismic risks.