Palazzo dei Giureconsulti di Milano

Palazzo dei Giureconsulti is a historic 16th-century Mannerist-style palace located in Milan’s Piazza Mercanti, on the corner of Piazza del Duomo. The construction of the Palazzo dei Giureconsulti was desired and financed by the Milanese nobleman Giovanni Angelo Medici, who ascended to the papal throne under the name of Pope Pius IV, to house the “Collegio dei Nobili Dottori,” i.e., all those people who were in charge of the city’s management. Construction was started in 1562, based on a design by Vincenzo Seregni, on the same site on which since the formation of the Piazza dei Mercanti (13th century) stood the notaries’ palace, incorporating the tower of Napo Torriani, which became the civic tower; its bell (later replaced by the present clock) was called the “Zavataria” in honor of the podestà Zavatario della Strada who had made a gift of it to the city. The bell announced curfews, the burning of fires, and the execution of condemned men.