Villa Salviati in Florence: a well kept secret

Villa Salviati is located along the homonymous street, with an access on the main road and one on via Faentina. This splendid villa is guarded like a precious jewel, and is opened to the public only once a year on the occasion of Europe Day.
Alamanno Salviati came into possession of this land, on which the Montegonzi castle stood, in 1445 and had the castle transformed into a villa, with a large garden and woods. Upon his death, Alamanno's grandchildren carried out renovations, in which took part also Giovan Francesco Rustici, who created a series of terracotta tondi with mythological subjects (such as Apollo and Marsyas or Jupiter and Bellerophon) for the decorations of the villa.
The villa then passed from hand to hand, first to the Aldobrandini-Borghese family, then to the Englishman Arturo Vansittard, to the tenor Giovanni Matteo De Candia, to the Swedish banker Gustave Hagerman and to the Turri family.
Over the centuries, it has hosted illustrious figures from the Medici family and Garibaldi.
During the Second World War, it was the seat of an allied command and then remained semi-abandoned for a long time until 2000, when the villa and its land were purchased by the Italian government to be used by the European University Institute, which made it the seat of the Historical Archives of the European Union. Renovation works followed that were completed in 2009.

The main body of the villa has crenellated turrets and the building is arranged around the central courtyard, with a portico with columns in pietra serena.
In front of the villa, the Italian garden is built on three terraces of different levels, while the property is surrounded by a large English park, where we can find a bamboo grove, two ponds and then scattered here and there, caves, small temples, fountains, pavilions and statues.
The main cave is one of the most evocative environments of the complex, consisting of three rooms, with limestone formations, stones and shells, as well as frescoes that adorn the ceilings and walls articulated by niches.

A beautiful Florentine villa and park that not many people have seen. Keep an eye out on the calendar for next year’s opening!