Piazza dei Priori Volterra

Piazza dei Priori is the historic civic square of Volterra. The site was used for fairs and markets before the year 1000, and the growing medieval commune established its principal public buildings around it. The Palazzo dei Priori gives the square its name; other surrounding landmarks include the Palazzo Pretorio and Torre del Porcellino, the bishop’s palace, Palazzo Incontri and Palazzo del Monte Pio. Together these buildings preserve the setting in which Volterra’s civic institutions developed. Volterra keeps its civic centre in a square named for the Palazzo dei Priori, the town hall from which the priors governed and whose stonework still frames the piazza. Etruscan walls and alabaster workshops are the town's other signatures; this is where its public life gathers. Summer brings staged opera and concerts into the open air here, Verdi's Rigoletto among the works performed.