The palace where the Podestà e Capitano governed Mestre for the Republic of Venice is still the town hall. Its name remembers the Collalto counts of Treviso, who held the town before Venice did. On the date of the building and its later rebuilding, no primary source has been found: this page says what is documented and what is not.
At a glance
The Palazzo Podestarile stands on Via Palazzo, the medieval street of Mestre, facing the Palazzo della Provvederia. Under Venice it was the seat of the Podestà e Capitano and, with the Provvederia opposite, one of the two seats of government of the podesteria; it is now the Municipio di Mestre, at number 1 of the street. Stefano Vigolo, who photographed it in October 2026, records the name by which it is also known, Ca’ Collalto, after the family that ruled Mestre from Treviso in the Middle Ages.
What this page does not say. We found no primary source on when the palace was built or rebuilt. A travel guide gives 1466 and says it was later rebuilt, without saying when or by whom; the Comune di Venezia and the Centro Studi Storici di Mestre describe its role, not its construction. The front seen today, with its portico and regular windows, looks like the work of the nineteenth century, but that is an impression from the photograph, not a documented fact.
Key facts
- Role under Venice: seat of the Podestà e Capitano of Mestre; with the Provvederia opposite, the seat of government of the podesteria
- Today: Municipio di Mestre, Via Palazzo 1
- Also known as: Ca’ Collalto, after the counts of Collalto, lords of Treviso and of Mestre until 1337
- Date of construction: not documented in a primary source; a travel guide gives 1466 with a later rebuilding
- GPS: 45.4959, 12.2442 · Open in Google Maps (OpenStreetMap)
What is known, and what is believed
The name takes the story back before Venice. In 994 Otto III, king of Germany, gave Rambaldo, count of Treviso and later of Collalto, a royal manse «between Mestre, Paureliano and Brentulo»; the tie with Treviso lasted as a dominion until 1337, and far longer for administrative and church matters. In the Middle Ages the Collalto built a tower-house, together with the Torre Belfredo, to protect and control the river landings and warehouses on the Marzenego, the stream on which Mestre’s trade with the lagoon and the mainland ran. Whether that tower-house stood where the present palace stands, our sources do not say.
Venice took Mestre on 29 September 1337. The town became a podesteria with jurisdiction over some thirty villages, administered by a Podestà e Capitano with two Castellani and a Civic Council of about thirty citizens; the Provveditori carried out the council’s decisions. The Centro Studi Storici di Mestre names the Palazzo Podestarile, «the present Municipio», and the Provvederia facing it as the seats of that government. The palace has kept its public function ever since: it is the town hall of Mestre within the Comune di Venezia, and the flags of Europe, Italy and Venice fly from its balcony.
What you see
A three-storey block in orange plaster with stone framing. The ground floor is an open portico of seven round arches on square pillars, with memorial plaques on the walls inside it. The piano nobile has round-arched windows with keystones and a central balcony on brackets, carrying the flags and a coat of arms between the windows; the top floor has rectangular windows under a dentilled cornice. The corner towards Via Palazzo is marked by rusticated pilasters. Across the street stands the brick front of the Provvederia, and at the end of the view the Torre dell’Orologio.
Do you know more about this palace?
If you know when the Palazzo Podestarile was built or rebuilt, who designed its present front, or a document or photograph that tells its story, write to Sofia at sofia@culturalheritageonline.com or through the contact page. What arrives with a source goes into this page, with your name as the contributor.
Nearby
- Palazzo della Provvederia — the council’s loggia of 1457, across the street
- Civic Tower – Clock Tower — the last tower of the castle, at the end of Via Palazzo
Sources
- Centro Studi Storici di Mestre, Le stagioni di Mestre, 2 (PDF): the conquest of 1337, the podesteria, the Podestà e Capitano, the Castellani, the Civic Council, the Provveditori, and «Palazzo Podestarile (l’attuale Municipio) e la prospiciente Provvederia» as seats of government; and Le stagioni di Mestre, 1 (PDF): Otto III’s gift of 994 to Rambaldo of Treviso and Collalto, the Treviso dominion until 1337, the Collalto tower-house and the Torre Belfredo guarding the river landings
- Comune di Venezia, Palazzo della Provvederia Hall in Mestre: the Provvederia of 1457 facing the palace, and its access from Via Palazzo
- Logitravel, Guida turistica, Mestre: the date of 1466 and the later rebuilding of the palace of the Podestà e Capitano — a travel guide, not a primary source, reported as such
- Stefano Vigolo, notes to the editorial staff (October 2026): the name Ca’ Collalto. Not a published source
- OpenStreetMap, Municipio di Mestre, Via Palazzo 1: the address and the position
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