Old Market Square

Market Square in Domodossola is located in the heart of the Piedmontese city. Conceived and built with Renaissance architecture, it features 15th-century arcades supporting 15th- and 16th-century manor houses with balconies and loggias, visibly perfect despite its asymmetry. The capitals of the columns serve to support Romanesque and Gothic arches and bear coats of arms of Ossola lineages, such as the Da Ponte, Ferrari, De Rodis, and Silva families. In the center of the square stood the 14th-century municipal palace, which was demolished in 1805 to leave the way for the Napoleonic Simplon road. The northern part of the square was home to the bishop-count's palace with its tower, while the southern part still contains the Galletti Theater. The concession of the weekly market to the village of Domodossola, according to the plaque placed in the square in 1891, was supposedly made by Berengar I on December 19, 917. In reality the original diploma has been altered: it is certain, however, that the market is very ancient, probably already present at the time of the Leponzi.