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The Praetorian Palace, better known as Arnolfo's from the name of the architect Arnolfo di Cambio who designed the entire 13th century castle and probably - according to Giorgio Vasari - also this palace, is situated exactly in the middle between the two main squares: Cavour and Masaccio, and faces the Corso Italia. Its medieval layout was modified as early as in the 15th century; in the course of the Eighties the palace was restored. It contains the premises of part of the municipality and of some art exhibitions. The ground floor is entirely surrounded by a wide porch gallery with four arcades on each front and six on each flank, divided by octagonal pillars decorated with coats of arms of the dominating city (the lily of Florence) and of the Guelph party (the guelph eagle). | 
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In the hall we can see the original "Marzocco", the statue symbolizing the Florentine dominion: a sitting lion holding with its paw a shield with the lily, placed on a high pedestal in stone. A copy of the "Marzocco" has replaced the original statue in the piazza Cavour, in its position in front of the Praetorian Palace.
The hall walls are decorated with frescoes and coats of arms from the 15th century. The facades present two open galleries with Renaissance columns and capitals at the first floor level. A tower crowned by merlons, with two orders of windows, rises from the center of the back wall. The beauty of Arnolfo's Palace is of an unusual nature as compared to the traditional Tuscan building techniques, as it recalls models more Northern rather than Central Italian. |
| Its attractiveness is increased by the numerous ebearings of Vicars that cover the main facade. They are as a whole 250m from the most ancient (1410) to the most recent (1772). The piazza Masaccio is faced by the Basilica Santa Maria delle Grazie, by St. Lawrence's Church and by the "Palazzaccio". | |
