Montepulciano's main square is officially named Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, but everyone calls it Piazza Grande. Some of the town's most important buildings surround it. The austere Palazzo Comunale commands the west side of the piazza, begun at the end of the 14th century and given its present form in 1424 by the Florentine Renaissance architect Michelozzo. The plain facade with its battlemented top and the shape of the tower are reminiscent of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, although this one is more symmetrical. From the top of the tower, which you can climb, are panoramic views of the Tuscan countryside. Palazzo Contucci, opposite, was the work of Antonio da Sangallo the Elder in the 16th century and contains frescoes by Andrea Pozzo. Massive Palazzo Tarugi has an open loggia on the ground floor, and adjoining the palazzo is a fountain erected in 1520, incorporating two Etruscan columns and topped by two lions bearing the Médici coat of arms.