The Medici Villa Poggio Imperiale
The Villa Medici Poggio Imperiale in Florence is situated on a hill called Arcetri. On the villa you can see two coats of arms, the one of the Medici family is gold with five red balls and one blue ball with three gold lilies and the Lorena family divided into three parts: one part represents the Lorena, the other Austria and the last the Medici.
Villa Poggio Imperiale belonged to the family Baroncelli and is therefore also known as the Villa di Poggio Baroncelli. In 1565 the Medici confiscated Villa Salviati from the Salviati family as they were anti-Medici. In 1622 the villa fun sold to Maria Maddalena of Austria, wife of Cosimo II de' Medici. The proximity to the city center made this villa important and the various owners over the past centuries have expanded and made more and more sumptuous the villa. Maria Maddalena from Austria approved, in fact, the project of Giulio Parigi which created, in addition to the main building, two buildings and two smaller semicircles of statues on both sides, which created a magnificent bird's eye looking at the house from a distance. In the painting by Giorgio Utens the villa is represented as it was in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
In 1659 the house passed to the Grand Duchess Vittoria della Rovere, wife of Ferdinand II, who beautified and enlarged more the house. Following the projects by Diacinto Maria Marmi and the works by Giovan Battista Foggini, Vittoria della Rovere built the hall in front of the garden and the garden adorned with arcades. During the government of the Lorena family, the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo asked the architect Paoletti to build two large courtyards and a party room on the first floor. The stuccos are by Giocondo and Grato Albertolli. The majestic frescoes and paintings are by leading artists of the time. Maria Luigia di Borbone in 1806 rebuilt the facade, but the work was completed by Elisa Baiocchi, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, who also built a picturesque garden.
The villa since 1865 has housed a girls' school, the Educandato of the Santissima Annunziata. The villa is one of the Medici villas declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.
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A selection of our most requested villas in the area:
Luxury villa sleeping 8 a few kilometres from Gambassi Terme, in the heart of Florence countryside. Garden, swimming pool, hydromassage, Internet connection. Tennis court, riding stable and golf club nearby. Possibility of organising horseback and mountain-bike rides in the neighbourhood.
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Villa for holidays on the hills of the Florentine countryside. Accommodation for 12+2 people, garden, private swimming pool, hydro massage, Internet connection.
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Villa with annexed cottage sleeping 6 in Valdisieve, near San Godenzo (Florence). Garden, barbecue, whirlpool swimming pool, air conditioning, Internet connection. A few kilometres from Lake Bilancino and the National Park of Casentino Forests.
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Small villa sleeping 6 near Reggello, in Valdisieve, just a few kilometres from Florence. Swimming pool, Internet connection, air conditioning. Cooking lessons, dinners and guided tours are organised upon request.
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