Palazzo of Podestà

Palazzo of Podestà or Capitano Rettore is located on the lakefront of Salò and overlooks the main square.

Palazzo of Podestà it was the seat of the Council of the Magnifica Patria, built according to a design by Jacopo Sansovino (1524), suffered the collapse of a part during the terrible earthquake of 1901, subsequently rebuilt, a brown arch in the loggia separates the old part from the reconstructed; now it is the seat of the Municipality of Salò. On the ground floor there is a portico towards the lake with a loggia covered by a wooden coffered ceiling on which are painted the coats of arms of all the Municipalities that were part of the Magnifica Patria, which were 52 distributed from Bedizzole to Limone. Repeatedly repeated inside the building is the symbol of the lion of Venice, the most obvious one is located under the loggia, but has suffered vandal mutilations over the years; always under the loggia there are also many gravestones in memory of the visits of famous personalities such as: King Vittorio Emanuele, Giuseppe Mazzini, Camillo Benso count of Cavour, Giuseppe Garibaldi. Inside, going up the staircase, we find an eighteenth-century painting by the painter Andrea Bertanza: the Magnificent Motherland that greets the Provveditore with a cornucopia full of lake products, at the foot of which is a little angel with a sword, meaning that he and the strength of Venice, the chains that bound her were broken. Above this another painting but work of Angelo Landi. On the upper floor of the Palazzo of Podestà is the Council Hall, where there are still large closets containing documentation on the Municipalities belonging to the Magnifica Patria, the coffered ceiling presents: in the center an altarpiece by Andrea Bertanza depicting a Christ in triumph with the cross and at his feet San Carlo Borromeo, patron of Salò and underneath still a Neptune coming out of the lake with horses holding fish and lemons, symbols of the Magnifica Patria; in the internal frame some paintings of ladies and, in the external frame, illustrious representatives of the general culture, like Petrarch, Archimedes, Plato and others. Also on the first floor is the Hall of Provveditori, which was completely frescoed and there are depicted the coats of arms of the supervisors who have succeeded over the centuries, there is also a painting by Anton Maria Mucchi.
On the first floor there was a connecting bridge between the Hall of Provveditori and the building behind the building, which was the house of the Provveditore. On the back side of the building, opposite the lake, there is an ancient clock, still working, moved by a mechanism of levers and weights.