The former seat of the Sanremo Town Council

The old building, which is still located in the square of the same name in the Pigna district, even though its exterior appearance has been almost completely transformed, was also known as the Palazzo del Consiglio (council building), because it was used as a meeting place for the municipal councillors and as a place for the judicial administration by the vicar of the community.

Above the black stone jambs leading to the two rooms on the ground floor, the entrance to which is located at about the same height as the current number twelve in the square, the mottoes « Cornu bos capitur voce ligatur homo (the ox is taken by the horns and man is bound by the word) » and the verse from Horace's Satires (2, 2, 8) were engraved in ancient times: « Male verum examinat (omnis) corruptus judex (a corrupt judge misjudges the true) », which alludes precisely to the ancient judicial function of the site.

On 20 October 1319, Giovanni Mansella, captain of the militia of the King of Naples Robert of Anjou, solemnly swore on behalf of his sovereign, in the presence of thirty-one councillors of the municipality, to maintain intact all the rights and benefits enjoyed by the local population until then.

The building was the seat of the Parliament of Matuzian heads of families until the transfer of the municipal and government offices to the premises of the Palazzo Pretorio in today's Piazza dei Dolori towards the end of the 14th century.

(Sources: text by Andrea Gandolfo; images from private archives)