Palazzo Pretorio is an imposing medieval structure and one of the most beautiful palaces of Central Italy. In 1284 the Captain of the People Francesco dei Frescobaldi purchased it to have it as municipal government building. The part made of light alberese stone, preceded by a wide stairway and embellished by eight mullioned windows and a tabernacle, was added in the fourteenth century.
The embattled cornice and the bell-tower were added in the sixteenth century. Various coats of arms belonging to families of podestà and vicars enrich the facade. After the redecoration the palazzo houses again the city museum, the most ancient city cultural institution with regard to history and collections. Its foundation dates back to period of Pietro Leopoldo (1788) but the Gallery itself was set up in the nineteenth century by Cesare Guasti who characterised it with the addition of ecclesiastic origin works. One of most important areas of the museum is formed by the works of masters from the Fourteenth, Sixteenth century and the baroque period.