The Magisterial Palace housed the vicars’ and the podestà’s (who administered criminal and civil justice) offices as well as the prisons and the chancery office where the delegates of the community met.
This building dates back to the first half of the fourteenth century. It probably was erected during the rule of Perugia who placed its escutcheon bearing a griffin on the front of the tower. The façade is still adorned with podestas, vicars’ and lieutenants’ escutcheons, some of them rather worn out.
From the stately tower one can admire the whole town and have a comprehensive view of Valdichiana. The building is now an international university centre, still preserving a fresco by a local artist Stefano Veltroni who was Vasari’s pupil in 1538 when the work (a Pietà) was carried out.
