Palazzo del Podestà, Bologna

About this audio guide

This guide to the Palazzo del Podestà in Bologna starts with an acoustic trick built into its vaulted crossing, where a whisper in one corner carries to a listener across the arch under four terracotta saints by Alfonso Lombardi. It follows the palace through its medieval bell tower, its Renaissance remodeling for the ruling Bentivoglio family under architect Aristotile Fioravanti, and the unlikely path that later took Fioravanti's talents all the way to Moscow. Stand under the arch, pick a corner, and listen for who's on the other side.