Palazzo della Ragione

The Palazzo della Ragione is the oldest and most important example of Romanesque civil architecture in Milan. It was erected in 1233 by the mayor of the time, Oldrardo from Tresseno who distinguished himself in the persecution of heretics.

His name is mentioned in Milan on a relief added to the newsstand on a pillar of the Palazzo della Ragione. In 1233, Milan applied a law providing for the sentence of burning to the Cathars as heretics.

The Cathar doctrines were condemned as heretical by the Roman Church, first to define itself as the Catholic Church. The Cathars were not strongly opposed by Bernard of Clairvaux, who created for them the "conversi group" , a secular team in the Cistercian monasteries, in which they could express themselves in their religious practices. He looked at them with interest even though their predication was not acceptable to the Church, their way of life was commendable, based on the exercise of poverty, humility and charity. Converts were the source of inspiration for the formalization of the Rule for the Templars.

"Broletto" is short for "brolo", which in the Middle Ages meant a wooded meadow where the archbishop-lord exercised justice. In Milan, the lawn will then be chosen by the citizens of the Free City for the erection of a building in the shape of a the loggia (Consoleria) for their orders. Later this building will be named with the marked the lawn: Broletto, or Palazzo della Ragione. The administrative offices  continued to be located  into the Broletto until 1786

The white boar in relief is over a column of the Palazzo della Ragione. The wild boar is an animal symbol in the mythologies of Europe and in particular in the Celtic. it is white, the same color of the Druids.

The wild boar, often lonely, wanders through the woods like in a labyrinth, digging in search of the roots of trees with beautiful and tasty fruit. The wild boar is the leader of the warrior who aspires to the initiatic knowledge, and represents the inner world venturing into the forest of life, ready to learn the teachings of the great mother.