The executioner's house in Milan's Palazzo del Capitano di Giustizia

The Palazzo del Capitano di Giustizia, known as Palazz di Sedes Arma in Milanese dialect, stands at the Verziere between Piazza Fontana and Piazza Beccaria. Today it serves as the headquarters for the local police. For about three centuries, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, the building was the main seat of the administration of justice in Milan.

Construction was planned in the 1570s following the initiative of the governor and the archbishop, who also provided the initial funds. The architect Pietro Antonio Barca designed the facade facing Piazza Fontana and the central courtyard, which constitutes his first known work. Other parts of the building are the result of later expansions and renovations by the architect Piero Portaluppi.

The building was also called the house of the new prisons, as it held detainees. The northern wing, which now overlooks Piazza Beccaria, was the home of the executioner and the place where capital executions took place. Because of this history, the square was named in the nineteenth century after Cesare Beccaria, the advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons