The Municipal Palace has been the seat of the city’s administration since the late 19th century, but its construction begins in the 12th century: the first core of the building is the one built between Cortevecchia Street and the front of the Cathedral, which was begun in 1135, and whose position therefore determines the city’s power center: on one side the ecclesiastical power and on the other the secular municipal power. In the second half of the 14th century, Marquis Niccolò II d’Este commissioned an initial extension, but it was with Duke Ercole I that the complex took on its current layout. Many additions and transformations have been made to the palace over the centuries, but the most obvious can be said to be, after that of Ercole I d’Este, that of the 1920s designed by Gerolamo and Carlo Savonuzzi. The Open Monuments itinerary includes the Mayor’s Office, the Council Chamber and the Arengo Hall.