 The beautiful Lion with a closed book and a raised sword that can be seen in the town square means that there was some sort of delegation of sovereignty and there was also justice.In other worlds, that meant that the town and the people were under jurisdiction of the Venetians, but were otherwise free, even from having to pay taxes.This Lion is actually a Tax Free Zone sign, and this was a rather big favour; an honour in fact, bestowed by La Serenissima only to those who fought really valiantly on the side of Venice.