Palazzo dei Rettori Historical Timeline

Origins

Belluno passed to Venice in 1404, one of the mainland cities absorbed as the Republic expanded inland, and it needed a residence and offices for the officials Venice sent to run it.

Turning points

Construction began in 1491 and continued into the 1530s. The building's date places it in the first generation of Venetian Renaissance architecture on the mainland.

Influential people

The rettori were Venetian patricians posted here for fixed terms -- a podestà for civil administration and a captain for military matters -- and the palace housed both their offices and their households.

Cultural evolution

The clock tower was added in the following century, giving the facade its present asymmetry.

Present-day significance

The palace passed to the Italian state and remains in government use as the seat of the Prefecture, which is why the interior is not generally open.