Palazzo della Ragione belongs to that group of architectural complexes built during the Renaissance. Indeed,it was built between the 11th and the 12th century with public civil functions and to host the city public meetings as well as, in case of rain, the public market which usually took place in the square below. Mentioned several times in the historical documents of that period (such as the Palatinum Novum by the Comune), Starting from the half of the 13th century, it underwent a wide sweries of architectural changes: the porticos were built during the 15th century, whereas i the Torre dell'Orologio (Clock Tower) was erected n 1472 on basis of a drawing by Luca Fancelli. The following year, tne Tower was enriched by a clock which was made and installed there by Bartolomeo Manfredi, a mathematician, mechanic and astrologer at the Gonzaga's court. Besides indicating hour, it also showed the signs of the Zodiac, the position of the plantets, the phases of the day as well as of the moon, the days favoraurable to do several things which one can mention as "useful in this world", such as healing from deseases, sowing orleaving for a journey. The clock worked until the beginning of the 18th century; it was then turned into a normal device showing the sun and the minutues. In 1700, working on a plan by the architect Doricilio Moscatelli, they closed the 13th-century three-mullioned windows and opened wide and well-lit ones. During the first half of the 20th century the Mantuan architectAldo Andreani brought the Palace back to its origlinal structure by removing the baroque superpositions. For centuries Palazzo della Ragione was destinated to the administration of justice, but in 1997 it became a prestigious expositional seat of Mantua's Musei Civici (Town Museums). Sice then it has been hosting several art exposition organized by the local Municipal Administration. On the front walls of the very wide hall you can see the remains of important frescos showing war episodes that can be dated back to the end of the 12th century as well as characters belonging to religious history who can be dated back to the half of the 13th century.