Villa la Petraia, a Medici villa particularly beloved by the Medici Family.

Villa Medicea la Petraia – The Medici family and Alchemy

The Medici villas have always expressed the highest level of Renaissance and Baroque architecture achieved in Tuscany. Among them, Villa la Petraia – with its late medieval origins – was a particular favorite of the Medici family.

Its ancient shape of an armed “small fortress” building still retains a special charm both for its garden divided into large terraces, geometrically decorated with flowers, dwarf fruits and plants of all sorts, and from the original nursery overlooked by a wide variety of citrus trees.

The real jewel, which still amazes with its infinite range of alchemical symbols, is the Fiorenza Fountain, a masterpiece by Tribolo, crowned at the top by the statue later made by Giambologna. The beauty and composure of the garden is matched by the extraordinary wonder of the courtyard-located within the Villa.

The walls of the courtyard, totally frescoed in the 17th century, extol the grandeur of the Medici and their exploits. Grand dukes, queens, pontiffs, laurel wreaths, gilded chariots, thrones and battle scenes immortalize, amidst alchemical symbols and pages of history, the grandeur of this House that was able to give great luster to the city of Florence and Tuscany for so many centuries.

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