Villa Medici at Careggi, located on Viale Gaetano Pieraccini 17, Florence, is one of the first villas of the influential Medici family, known for the Platonic Academy founded by Cosimo de' Medici, who died here in 1464. Like most villas of Florentine families, it remained a working farm that helped render the family self-sufficient. Lorenzo, Cosimo de' Medici's brother, acquired the villa in 1417. The villa was remodeled by Michelozzo in the 15th century.
Cosimo il Vecchio set about remodeling the villa around its loggia-enclosed central courtyard. His grandson Lorenzo extended the terraced gardens and the shaded boschi. In the mid-1800s, the villa was purchased by an Englishman, Francis Sloane, who planted exotics in the landscape, including Cedar of Lebanon, Californian sequoias, and palms, giving the grounds their feeling of an arboretum.
Today, Villa Medici belongs to the Tuscan public administration. The property is currently in the process of restoration and is still closed to the public as of September 2026.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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