Palazzo del Podestà, Mantua

Its back is one of the shorter sides of piazza delle Erbe, while its façade gives onto piazza Broletto.
Palazzo del Podestà was built in 1227, and was the government building during the Commune age.
In XV century Luca Fancelli renewed it on the orders of marquis Ludovico Gonzaga; it is still possible to make the medieval part out of the more elegant Renaissance one.
On the façade there is a XIII century statue depicting Virgil on a teacher's chair.
On the corner, the loggia upon the great vault is the remnant of the ancient Arengario, id est the medieval town hall with a balcony for public address.