The building, now used for Municipal Administration, can be visited during opening hours or accompanied by staff during the closing times. Seen from Piazza Garibaldi, Il Cassero (the Keep) is an imposing structure of three embankments built on a gray sandstone boulder made of blocks of the same material. The building, probably constructed before the 12th century, was restored and enlarged during the Sienese period. After the Sienese period the fortress remained in a state of neglect until 1772, when the Commissioner of the Grand Duke chose it as the new headquarters of the municipal building. In 1787 Grand Duke Leopold immortalized the structure in a report on the impressions he had in visiting Manciano, defining Il Cassero as “the most beautiful praetorian in the Lower Province”. This text reveals that the ground floor contained a messenger room and a prison district, on the first floor the vicar’s quarters as well as a dungeon, and the second floor a notary, a community hall for meetings as well as another dungeon. The halls and offices inside the building are replete with works of art by authors from the 19th century as well as contemporary authors such as Alessandro Babbanini, Giuliano Ciolfi and Bruno Vannucci, among others.

The Council Hall houses numerous works Manciano’s two most famous painters, Pietro Aldi and Paride Pascucci: in particular Aldi’s “Il Giuramento di Ghino di Tacco ” and Pascucci’s “La festa in famiglia” will one day help launch a permanent art gallery