In 1492, the Republic of Lucca built the seat of the Podestà and his judicial offices. Matteo Civitali was responsible for the entire project, and after his death, his sons finished the work. The building, now home to the Pretura, retains its Renaissance forms, exhibiting the typical features of a 15th-century public palace (two floors, the lower one open and porticoed to accommodate assemblies) and the rhythmic division of the facades, characteristic of Renaissance palaces.