The ''Palazzo delle Scuole Palatine'' (Palace of the Palatine School) is a historic building of Milan, Italy, located in

Piazza Mercanti Piazza Mercanti ("Merchants Square") is a central city square of Milan, Italy. It is located between Piazza del Duomo, which marks the centre of the modern city of Milan, and Piazza Cordusio, and it used to be the heart of the city in the Middle ...

, the former city centre in the Middle Ages. It served as the seat of the most prestigious higher school of medieval Milan. Many notable Milanese scholars of different ages studied or taught in these schools;

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

and

Cesare Beccaria Cesare Bonesana di Beccaria, Marquis of Gualdrasco and Villareggio (; 15 March 173828 November 1794) was an Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher, economist and politician, who is widely considered one of the greatest thinkers of the Age ...

,Cesare Beccaria
/ref> among others, served as teachers in the Palatine. The current building dates back to 1644, when it replaced an older one, which had the same function and was destroyed by a fire. The school was established in Piazza Mercanti under Giovanni Maria Visconti. In 1644, they were destroyed by a fire, and rebuilt based on the prestigious model of the nearby Palazzo dei Giureconsulti, by architect

Carlo Buzzi Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

. The building is decorated with several monuments, including a statue of the Ancient Roman poet Ausonius and a plaque with one of his

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...

s celebrating Milan as the "New Rome" of the 4th century. There is also a statue of Augustine by sculptor Pietro Lasagna.

References

Sources

*O.P. Melano, ''Milano di terracotta e mattoni'', Mazzotta, 2002 *A. Lanza and M. Somarè, ''Milano e suoi palazzi - Porta Vercellina, Comasina e Nuova'', Libreria Milanese, pp. 91–93 {{Milan landmarks Scuole Palatine Buildings and structures completed in 1644 1644 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Tourist attractions in Milan