The Palazzo Comunale or Bologna City Hall consists of two separate buildings grouped together in one square structure: the Palazzo d'Accursio and the Palazzo del Legato. The oldest part of the complex is the Palazzo d'Accursio, named after the famous Italian professor, teacher of law, Francesco Accorsi, whose residence was bought by the city municipality in the late thirteenth century. The upper floors of the former Accorsi residence became in 1336 the residence of the elders, members of the highest judicial body of the city, while the other wing of the palazzo was used as a shelter.→