If the Fortress of Civitella represents the time during which Arezzo's Episcopal curia dominated the village, the Palazzo Pretorio is the building that than any other testifies the changeover of power between Arezzo and Florence in 1384. In effect, the Florentines carried it out to host the podestà.

By the time the troops of the Republic had conquered Civitella, the fortified village and its castle had already been famous and became a target for centuries for their strategic position. The Florentine seigniory fully understood the potential of this place and therefore it created the base of a town-hall here that controlled a vast territory including Ciggiano, Marciano, Oliveto, Tegoleto, Gaenne and Montoto.
Therefore, the date of the building can be established between the XIV and the XV centuries. The oldest among the podestà's ceramic emblems that are kept in the Palazzo Pretorio dates to 1422. Generally, the completion of works or, at least, the inauguration of the building are traced back to this very year. This Palazzo was the base of the town-hall until the XVIII century. After the reforms that transformed Civitella into a free town in 1772, the building became the town hall until 1917.
Today the building is not complete any more. Its dimensions are the original ones, since any change on the inside was not made but its double arcade loggia was destroyed. It was near the main door and some of its remains are visible. Instead, the emblems of the podestà are still on the façade.
In effect, all the people who followed one another in the Palazzo Pretorio wanted to embellish its front part putting the earthen or glazed ceramic emblems of their family here. In the "Sala dell'Udienza" it is possible to see a precious fresco that represents the "Maestà tra due Santi".