Villa Medici at Careggi

Coordinates: 43°48′33.88″N 11°14′58.28″E / 43.8094111°N 11.2495222°E / 43.8094111; 11.2495222
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Villa Medici at Careggi
Villa Medicea di Careggi
Toscana
CountryItaly
Coordinates43°48′33.8″N 11°14′58.2″E / 43.809389°N 11.249500°E / 43.809389; 11.249500
Construction startedc. 1325
OwnerRegione Toscana
Design and construction
Architect(s)Michelozzo
Website
web.archive.org/web/20060627073156/http://www.cultura.toscana.it/architetture/giardini/firenze/villa_medicea_careggi.shtml
Garden.

The Villa Medici at Careggi is a patrician villa in the hills near Florence, Tuscany, central Italy.

History

The villa was among the first

Villa Medici in Fiesole
has a more outward-looking, Renaissance character.

The property was purchased in 1417 by Cosimo de' Medici brother, Lorenzo.[2] At the death of Giovanni di Bicci, Cosimo il Vecchio set about remodelling the beloved villa around its loggia-enclosed central courtyard. His grandson Lorenzo extended the terraced gardens and the shaded boschi.

Marsilio Ficino, who died at the villa in 1499, was a central member of the Platonic Academy.[3] Lorenzo de' Medici died at the villa in 1492,[4] after which it was ignored for a time until about 1615, when Cardinal Carlo de' Medici undertook extensive projects to remodel the interior, and bring the garden up to date.

The villa property was purchased from the Lorraine heirs of the Medici in 1779 by Vincenzo Orsi; the Orsi heirs sold it to an Englishman, Francis Sloane, in 1848: Sloane planted exotics in the landscape:

Cedar of Lebanon and Himalayan cedars, Californian sequoias, arbutus from the eastern Mediterranean and palms, which give the grounds their feeling of an arboretum. Today the villa belongs to the Tuscan public administration.[5]

It is currently in a process of restoration and is closed to the public until at least 2020.[6]

Notes

  1. Villa Medicea del Trebbio
    in the valley of the Mugello had been previous purchases.
  2. ISBN 9780141927145
    .
  3. ISBN 9780679645498
    .
  4. ISBN 9780826427502
    .
  5. ^ "Ville e Giardini Medicei - Villa di Careggi". Regione.Toscana.it. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  6. Unesco World Heritage Site
    . 1997. Retrieved 24 October 2018.

References

43°48′33.88″N 11°14′58.28″E / 43.8094111°N 11.2495222°E / 43.8094111; 11.2495222

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