Palazzo Chigi-Useppi and the former Podestà's Palace with its Torre Rognosa - used as a prison till the end of the fourteenth century - stand in Piazza del Duomo, opposite the church.
The upper part of Palazzo Vecchio del Podesta is in brick. The stone lower part of the building consists of a large lodge with stone seats. On the wall at the bottom there is a fresco by Sodoma (1513) depicting the Virgin with Child, St Gimignano, and St Nicola, and the entrance door to the tiny lovely theatre of the town, Teatro dei Leggieri, built on the site of an ancient theatre in 1534, then refurbished in 1794.When the Podestà moved to the new Palazzo Comunale, erected next to the Duomo in 1298, the old Palazzo was first used as a hotel for distinguished guests and then as a Male Public School.