Medici villas #4: Villa Medici Roma

Medici villas #4: Villa Medici Roma

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The Villa Medici in Rome, together with its garden, it is one of the most majestic of the Medicean villas. Located next to Villa Borghese Park, it was acquired by Ferdinand I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1576. Since 1803 the building hosts the French Academy in Rome. It was precisely Ferdinand I de’ Medici who commissioned Bartolomeo Ammannati to complete the structure. It is the first property of the Florentine family in Rome, with which they reaffirmed their permanent presence in the city.…

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«Carlo Cantini. Between realism and imagination,» photo exhibition at Villa Bardini, Florence

«Carlo Cantini. Between realism and imagination,» photo exhibition at Villa Bardini, Florence

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From the artistic to the bucolic; from fashion photography to everyday documentary snapshots, this is the artistic journey of Carlo Cantini, a contemporary Florentine photographer and one of the best Italian photographers of the 20th century. On display until March 17 at Villa Bardini, Carlo Cantini. Between Realism and Imagination exhibits seventy photographs, inspired by Berengo Gardin and Mario Giacomelli, which document some of Florence’s most significant events of the last fifty years of the past century. His photographs document Florentine streets and countryside everyday scenes. Besides that, Cantini´s work is connected to the Pitti fashion shows, theater, contemporary art, enchanted gardens and allegorical nymphs, classical nude paying tribute to sculpture, and architecture. All in all, Cantini´s œuvre is a constant search for equilibrium between realism and imagination.

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Maie Escorial´s Florence

Maie Escorial´s Florence

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It is obvious that Florence has a thousand faces, this is something that stands out as soon as you get there. It has so much historical and architectural background that if you wanted to go into detail, it would take hours round a corner. During my autumn escape from daily routine, I was carried away by the streets and wandered around with pleasure, climbing, descending and crossing them. I found out that autumn had not even begun in Florence, therefore it seems like October is the perfect time to visit the city so one can feel the end of summer, take an Aperol spritz while enjoying a relaxed atmosphere surrounded by terraces full of people.…

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Miss Tina Mars in the pet-friendly Florence

Miss Tina Mars in the pet-friendly Florence

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My name is Tina Mars. Although I am a female dog, I consider myself very human. Last week I visited Paco Neumann in Florence and that dazzled me. I felt almost as mesmerized as the Americans (that is, by the city). Let’s say Florence is not Paris, but who does actually stand the French? Also, most animals are not interested in art and culture, but I am. I had an exquisite and refined education at home. That’s why I grow so much canine anger when not allowed into the museums or the churches. We, dogs, are better educated and trained than all those tourist crowds … The leash and the muzzle, as well as the picking up of my evacuations, are compulsory when out and about, anyway. By the way, I was fascinated to see how clean Florence is! In Berlin, the sidewalks and parks are crammed with excrement, which causes me quite a lot of disgust. …

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Stibbert Park, a romantic English garden on the outskirts of Florence

Stibbert Park, a romantic English garden on the outskirts of Florence

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There is life beyond the historical centre and, above all, many areas for the bucolic self-recreation. In this not so travelled — excluding joggers and some gite scolastiche — public garden of Montughi, in the vicinity of Florence, there are an exotic Egyptian temple by Frederick Stibbert in the middle of an artificial lake, a circular Hellenic temple with a dome of enamelled tiles, as well as sculptures, caves, benches and picnic areas here and there. One just needs to take a pleasant half-hour walk from the historic centre to reach the Stibbert Museum. Born in Florence in 1838, Frederick Stibbert, a regular traveller and passionate collector of antiques, brought together the three family traditions, the British, the Anglo-Indian and the Italian, which influenced his education and cultural taste. The great project of his life was to transform the family house of Montughi into a museum, which today belongs to the cultural heritage´s of Florence. There´s nothing like to start the day feeling intoxicated by the life and the freshness of these gardens.
Museo-Parco Stibbert

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Medici villas #3: Medicean villa di Castello – Accademia della Crusca

Medici villas #3: Medicean villa di Castello – Accademia della Crusca

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Like the villa of La Petraia, the villa medicea di Castello is in the hills of Castello, a few kilometres from Florence. Built in the 14th century and completely rebuilt in the 16th century, it is mostly famous for its gardens, which compete in splendour with those of Boboli. Also known as Villa Reale, L’Olmo or Il Vivaio, di Castello serves currently as the headquarters of the Accademia della Crusca, Italy’s most prestigious linguistic institution, so the visits are restricted and always subject to prior request. The gardens under management of the Polo Museale di Firenze, the institution in charge of the public museums of the province of Florence, are however more accessible. In addition to the gardens, another must-see is its library, the largest in the country regarding linguistics and history of the Italian language.
Practical info

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Forte di Belvedere: refuge of the Medici and viewpoint of Florence

Forte di Belvedere: refuge of the Medici and viewpoint of Florence

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Built at the end of the 16th century by order of Fernando I de’ Medici, Forte Belvedere is the common name of the fortress of Santa Maria in San Giorgio del Belvedere, one of the two fortresses of Florence. This building is also a popular panoramic viewpoint and a valuable architectural site of the city. The final move of the grand ducal court from the Palazzo Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti undoubtedly influenced the decision to build the new fortress, near the wall surrounding the Boboli gardens adjacent to the Pitti Palace. In case of any danger, the prince and the court could quickly reach a fortified refuge from which they could still rule the city.

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