Villa Medicea

The Medicean Villa of Poggio a Caiano is one of the first examples of the Renaissance architecture based on the fusion between Classicism and the style of the rural Tuscan residences. Its construction was established by Lorenzo de' Medici and entrusted to the architect Giovanni da Sangallo, but the works lasted for almost a century, between 1445 and 1520. In effect, it is likely that the Medici's temporary exile from Florence stopped the works for almost twenty years between the two centuries.

Beyond being a decisive element for the development of Poggio, the Villa was also the protagonist of the Medici's history. The celebration for the wedding of Alessandro and Margherita d'Austria, of Cosimo I and of Francesco I were celebrated here and, in general, it was a staging post for all the noble women who entered the Florentine high society by marrying a member of this illustrious family. Among the main frequenters of the villa there was Cosimo III, who loved art and transformed the villa into a very lively cultural centre.
Inherited by the Hapsburg-Lorraine after the death of Gian Gastone (1737), the last member of the Medici, the villa kept the function of a summer residence and of a contact point between Florence and Pistoia, ruled by the Grand Dukes.
With the arrival of Napoleon at the beginning of the XIX century, many changes were made on the building as settled by the new ruler of the Etrurian Kingdom, Maria Luigia, and by Elisa Baciocchi Bonaparte, the French emperor's sister who became Grand Duchess of Tuscany in 1809. It is said that the villa housed the secret love relations between her and the famous violinist Niccolò Paganini. Yet most of the works were deleted with the arrival of the Lorraine in 1815.
The Medicean Villa also raised the interest of the Savoia after the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. In particular, Vittorio Emanuele II transformed it into one of the basis for his hunting expeditions in the period when Florence was the capital of the kingdom. Beyond the construction of the stables, therefore, the king provided for the decoration of the rooms on the ground floor, the restoration of the "Leone X" room and the realization of a billiard room.
In 1919, the whole complex became a property of the Italian state. Differently from the inside, the external part of the Medicean Villa did not undergo particularly important modifications in comparison to the original project by Sangallo. The stairs that lead to the terrace and that were built in the first years of the XIX century according to Pasquale Poccianti's project represent an exception.
The ground floor is the one that has preserved its Renaissance appearance most. By entering it, the rooms of Bianca Cappello, Francesco I's unlucky lover and wife, the entrance hall and the XVIII-century court theatre, can be visited here. The "Leone X" room dedicated to the famous Pope son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, can be visited on the first floor. The walls were painted in the XVI century by Andrea del Sarto, the Pontormo, the Franciabigio and Alessandro Allori.