Casa Saraceni is considered one of the most interesting buildings that the city Renaissance produced towards the end of the 15th century. The historic residence of the noble Saraceni family now houses the headquarters of the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation in Bologna.
The architectural score of the building is modulated according to a rigorous rhythmic order, in which the terracotta ornamentation that embellishes the design of the windows and the cornice plays an important role.
The design of the facade thus blends the solid Bolognese tradition with the innovative Florentine architectural language.
Today, in the space on the ground floor, art exhibitions and cultural events of great appeal are organized.
 
The palace was built in the early sixteenth century, probably by Antonio Saraceni, a Bolognese nobleman and occasionally a member of the Senate from 1468 to 1502.
The building was built on the foundations of a house that belonged to the Clarissimi family since the 13th century. A plaque placed in the adjacent San Damiano alley remembers, in fact, the tower of Alberto Clarissimi, transformed in 1469 into the current roof terrace and still recognizable today.
Splendid and important residence, Palazzo Saraceni was chosen, after the expulsion of the Bentivoglio, in 1510, as the most appropriate place to host two Venetian ambassadors following Pope Julius II.
In 1930, the building passed to the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation in Bologna, which promoted the extensive and complex restoration project of 2001, with extraordinary maintenance works.