Palazzo della Ragione

"The palace was constructed between 1182 and 1198, during the rise of municipal entities within the Holy Roman Empire. Bergamo followed this trend, with the building being referred to as Palatium Comunis Pergami in a 1199 document, making it the second-oldest Italian town hall after Rome's Palazzo Senatorio. Originally, its main facade faced the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, but in 1462–63, the Serenissima had the ground-floor arches opened to Piazza Vecchia (then Piazza Nuova), and Gothic windows were added. The staircase to the entrance and loggia, connecting to Palazzo dei Giuristi, was completed in 1457. In 1464, a gilded Lion of St. Mark was placed on the new facade. Like many mediaeval Italian municipal buildings, the palace's ground floor features a portico open on three sides, with pointed and round arches supported by Romanesque pillars, adorned with zoomorphic and anthropomorphic carvings. "