AbstractWe derive a new Hamiltonian formulation of Schlesinger equations in terms of the dynamical r-matrix structure. The corresponding symplectic form is shown to be the pullback, under the monodromy map, of a natural symplectic form on the extended monodromy manifold. We show that Fock–Goncharov coordinates are log-canonical for the symplectic form. Using these coordinates we define the symplectic potential on the monodromy manifold and interpret the Jimbo–Miwa–Ueno tau-function as the generating function of the monodromy map. This, in particular, solves a recent conjecture by A. Its, O. Lisovyy and A. Prokhorov.