Palazzo Pretorio o dei Vicari, Certaldo

The Praetorian Palace or Palazzo dei Vicari is located in Certaldo Alto, in the province of Florence.

It is the most important building in the medieval town and one of the symbols of Certaldo. With the adjacent church of Saints Thomas and Prospero it forms a single museum itinerary. It is one of the three most important museums in the town along with the Museum of Sacred Art and Casa Boccaccio, for which a single admission ticket can be purchased.

Today it has a brick facade, topped with battlements that are the result of 19th-century restorations, with a tower on the right with a clock placed here in 1484.

The coats of arms in glazed terracotta, marble, pietra serena, etc. that dot the facade represent its peculiarity: made by the various Vicars who resided in the palace from the 15th to the 18th century, they bear the Vicar's coat of arms and an inscription with the dates when he held office. In some of the glazed terracotta coats of arms that came out of the Florentine Della Robbia and Buglioni workshops, one can sense the hand of the workshop masters themselves, such as in the Guasconi Coat of Arms, 1499, and the Gondi Silvestri Coat of Arms, 1491, both by Andrea della Robbia. Another splendid coat of arms, placed in the center of the facade, is that of Vicario Altoviti, 1525, traceable to the hand of Girolamo della Robbia. In front of the palace stands a loggia transformed during the 19th century into a private residence by plugging the spaces between the columns.