Among the secular buildings are the old ducal palace, begun in 1578 by Ammanati, and now the residence of the prefect and seat of the provincial officers and the public picture gallery; the early Renaissance Palazzo Pretorio, or former residence of the podesta, now the seat of the civil and correctional courts; the palace, erected in the 15th century by a member of the Guinigi family, of brick, in the Italian Gothic style, and now serving as a poor-house; the 16th-century palace of the marquis Guidiccioni, now used as a depository for the archives, the earliest documents going back to A.D.
At the present day the cities of Trent and Trieste give the name of podesta to their chief magistrate.
Being repeatedly elected podesta for lengthy terms of office, he at last became the virtual master of Rimini.
Concerning Rome, Gregorovius says that in 1205 "the pope changed the form of the civic government; the executive power lying henceforward in the hand of a single senator or podesta, who, directly or indirectly, was appointed by the pope."
During the last years of Cosimo's life, affairs were less under his control, and the gonfaloniere Luca Pitti, a vain and ambitious man, introduced many changes, such as the abasement of the authority of the podesta and of the capitano, which Cosimo desired but was glad to attribute to others.
From that date it was governed by a Venetian nobleman with the title of podesta whose office lasted sixteen months.
He was interred at Pisa, and Uguccione della Faggiuola remained as imperial lieutenant, was elected podesta and captain of the people, and thus became virtual lord of the city.
Help came to the Florentines from neighbouring cities, the podesta was expelled, and a balia or provisional government of 14 was elected.
His nephew Martino followed as podesta in 1256, and in 1259 as signore of Milan - the first time such a title was heard in Italy.
In 1203 it had its first podesta, and from this period dates the rise of its importance.
In Florence soon after 1180 the chief authority was transferred from the consuls to the podesta, and Milan and other cities were also ruled by these officials.
In the 12th century it was a free city, governed by a podesta and consuls after the model of the Italian republics, which it also emulated in commerce and navigation.
In the same square is the massive Romanesque Gothic Palazzo Comunale of 1267, the Palazzo dei Priori and the Palazzo della Podesta.
Instead of the consuls there were now twelve elders (anziani); besides the podesta, there was a captain of the people; and there was a general council as well as a senate of forty members.
Petronio, the massive Palazzo Comunale, dating from 1245, the Palazzo del Podesta, completed in the same year, and the fine bronze statue of Neptune by Giovanni da Bologna (Jean Bologne of Douai).
Podesta s or rectors were first appointed by the emperor Frederick I.
The archbishop Ruggieri, having put himself at the head of the nobles, was elected podesta by the Lanfranchi, Sismondi and Gualandi, and a section of the popular party.
The citizens, in order to protect their liberties, were obliged to elect a podesta, and their choice fell first on one of the D'Este family (c. 1175).
The former councils were replaced by the consiglio del popolo, consisting of 300 popolani and presided over by the capitano, and the consiglio del comune of 250 members, half of them nobles and half popolani, presided over by the podesta.
The officers thus elected sometimes bore the title of podesta or podestat.
The Palazzo del Commune and the Palazzo Pretorio, once the residence of the podesta, are both fine specimens of 14th-century domestic architecture, in good preservation.
The Palazzo del Podesta, now a private house, is a brick building of the 15th century.
The Palazzo della Ragione, erected in the Piazza dei Mercanti, just west of the Piazza del Duomo, the central point of the medieval city, in1223-1238by the podesta, Oldrado da Tresseno, whose equestrian portrait in high relief adorns it, still exists in fine preservation.
The Pisans, commanded by the Podesta Morosini and his lieutenants Ugolino della Gherardescha and Andreotto Saraceno, came out in a single body.
The street is itself spanned by an elegant bridge carrying the Corso Andrea Podesta, a modern avenue on the heights above.
The weakness of the government becoming every day more apparent, several constitutional changes were made, and many old institutions, such as that of the podesta and capitano del popolo, were abolished; finally in 1502, in order Piero Capponi.
Their fleet was nearly annihilated, the Podesta was taken, and Ugolino fled with a few vessels.
There is a splendid museum of medieval and Renaissance antiquities in the Bargello, the ancient palace of the Podesta, itself one of the finest buildings in the city; among its many treasures are works of Donatello, Ghiberti, Verrochio and other sculptors, and large collections of ivory, enamel and bronze ware.
There was considerable hostility between the newly entered family and the Salinguerra, but after considerable struggles Azzo Novello was nominated perpetual podesta in 12 4 2; in 1259 he took Ezzelino of Verona prisoner in battle.
This army, led by the podesta of Florence and twelve burgher captains, set forth gaily on its march towards the enemy's territories in the middle of April 1260, and during its first campaign, ending on the 18th of May, won an insignificant victory at Santa Petronilla, outside the walls of Siena.
This family quickly struck root in the town and gave birth to future tyrants; for in 1237 Giovanni was named podesta, and this office was the first step towards the sovereign power afterwards assumed by his descendants.
Though the city was united with the Catalans and with Venice in hostility to Genoa, and though it had chosen a Venetian, Alberto Morosini, as its Podesta, it received no help from either.
When the Carrara family succumbed in 1405, Este voluntarily surrendered to Venice and was allowed its independence, under a podesta; and thenceforth it followed the fortunes of Venetia.