Palazzo Pretorio - Certaldo Alto - Tuscany

In 1164, Emperor Federico Barbarosso handed over the city to the Counts Alberti of Prato, who settled in today's Palazzo Pretorio. But the building has early medieval origins.

The Palazzo Pretorio has a brick facade, with a cornice of battlements added during the 19th century, with a tower with a clock on the right. On the facade of the Palazzo we see the many stemmi or coats of arms of the podestàs or vicari who ruled Certaldo. At the top we see the robust coat of arms of the'Medici. Below in glazed earthenware the emblems of the Corbinelli and Guidotti families, in gray sandstone the stemmi of Buondelmonti

As soon as you enter the entrance door, you are in the center of the large vaulted atrium, painted with numerous coats of arms of the various vicars. On the left is the door to the first room of the Palazzo, the so-called Knight's Chamber or Camera del Cavaliere.

In the vaults and in the courtyard we recognize the coats of arms of the influential families from Certaldo and Firenze, the stemma Alberti, stemma Aldobrandini, stemma Bartolini, stemma Quaratesi, stemma Pitti and many others.

It is a wonderful interplay of ceramic and affresco painted family emblems. The traces of time are legible in pulverized plaster, broken porcelain and the beautiful remains of graffiti . Here the beauty speaks of decay. On the facade of the Palazzo Pretorio, the stemmi are made of sandstone and glazed porcelain.

Willem Vandenameele