Domus Mercatorum, Medieval palace in Piazza delle Erbe, Verona, Italy.
Domus Mercatorum is a medieval palace on the edge of Piazza delle Erbe in Verona, with an open loggia at street level and decorated windows on the upper floors. A row of crenellations runs along the top of the building, giving it a profile that stands out clearly above the square.
The palace was commissioned in 1301 by Alberto I della Scala to replace an earlier wooden structure and give the city's merchant guild a permanent home. It was later restored in the 19th century, a period during which some new elements were added to the exterior.
The name Domus Mercatorum simply means "House of the Merchants" in Latin, which still says a lot about what the building once was. Today, standing in the square and looking up at the facade, it is easy to imagine traders gathering under the ground-floor loggia to talk business.
The building currently operates as a bank and is not open to visitors inside, but the full facade is easy to see from Piazza delle Erbe, which lies right in front of it. The square is within walking distance of most central sights, so a stop here fits naturally into any tour of the old town.
The crenellations that give the building its medieval-looking roofline were actually added during the 19th-century restoration and were not part of the original design from 1301. So the most immediately visible feature of the building from the square is in fact the youngest part of it.
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