The Medici Villas

The Medici Trebbio Castle 

The visit begins in San Piero a Sieve, where in the early 15th century Cosimo the Elder commissioned Michelozzo, a popular architect at court, to transform an existing castle into a comfortable country residence. It’s the first of a long series of villas. The Renaissance and the cultural ferment of the times were pushing to make way, yet we are talking of a time of transition, when the constructive models of the late Middle Ages had not yet been forgotten. Thus, the architecture of the Trebbio Castle remains substantially that of a fortification, complete with a crenelated tower. In its rooms bustled Lorenzo the Magnificent in his hunting days, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere and his family, and a very young Amerigo Vespucci fleeing a plague-ravaged Florence.

The Medici Villa La Petraia 

First owned by the Brunelleschi family, then by the Strozzi, and again by the Salutati. The first document testifying to the Petraia as a Medici property dates back to 1544. Ferdinando, son of Cosimo I (not to be confused with Cosimo the Elder: there is about a century between them) wanted the early medieval fortress transformed into an elegant noble residence. Buontalenti oversaw its architectural renovation, while Volterrano completed the ‘Pomp of Medici Family’, a cycle of frescoes by Cosimo Daddi in the villa’s courtyard. The garden, on three levels and open to the view of Florence and the Arno River, was enriched with fountains and sculptures, fishponds, and nurseries. Today the Petraia is part of Florence Museum Network. 

The Medici Villa in Fiesole 

It was purchased in the mid-15th century by Cosimo the Elder, who established the dynasty’s political fortunes. Obviously, taste in design and aesthetics was innovating, and Michelozzo, an architect employed by the Medici and workshop companion of Donatello, put his own spin on it. The result was a very simple construction, with an elegant façade overlooking the garden, lightened by a three-arched portico with grotesque frescoes. The exterior of the villa is decorated with geometric motifs. Cosimo’s nephew, Lorenzo the Magnificent, took over the Villa in Fiesole in 1469 and made it a sort of spiritual retreat. As in the case at Careggi, basically it was a meeting place for the humanists of the court, who were to become key figures in cultural history. Through various changes of ownership, the villa has always remained private, and still is. However, the garden is open to the public: so, all you have to do is enjoy a stroll among the roses and citrus trees and contemplate the view of the city from the belvedere. 

The Medici Villa of Poggio Imperiale 

The refined Isabella de’ Medici chose this very villa for her cultural activities and decorated it to her taste with many works of art. Set amidst the greenery, on the hill of Arcetri, this structure was built in the 15th century but retains nothing of its original appearance. In fact – at the whim of Grand Duchess Maria Magdalena of Austria, widow of Cosimo II and sister of Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg – the architect Giulio Parigi, superintendent of the grand ducal buildings, added an elegant façade with an arched belvedere in the 17th century. Later on, in the late 18th century, Pietro Leopoldo of Habsburg-Lorraine commissioned  Gaspare Maria Paoletti to rebuild the façade overlooking the courtyard. Also, due to the caprices of Maria Luisa of Bourbon first, Elisa Baciocchi-Buonaparte then, and Ferdinand III later, the main façade was modified again in the 19th century. Anyway, with its neoclassical style, today the Villa looks beautiful. Since 1865, it has been the venue of the Educandato della SS. Annunziata, a prestigious boarding school reserved for girls of the aristocracy, now state-run.