Villa Artimino

The Etruscan city of Artimino, now part of Carmignano, was destroyed by the Romans. It's just a village now, with a new but choice museum as part of the Parco Archeologico di Artimino. It also boasts yet another Medici property, the Villa Artimino (also called ‘La Ferdinanda’), built as a hunting lodge for Ferdinando I by Bernardo Buontalenti.

Buontalenti, who spent much of his life building fortresses for the Medici, gave them perhaps the most delightful of their many villas here. It does have a semi-fortified air with its corner buttresses, but the total effect is simple and charming, the long roofline playfully punctuated by innumerable chimneys, each one different. The graceful stair was finally added in 1930, from a drawing by the architect in the Uffizi. Inside, the famous Sala delle Ville contains paintings of all the Medici villas.

Privately owned by the Olmo family, the villa is now used as a hotel and event venue.

Also in Artimino is an attractive 11th-century Romanesque church, San Leonardo, with three ornate apses in the Lombard style.

Practical Info

Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII, 1, 59015 Artimino

Hours Villa Artimino is now a luxury hotel but is occasionally open for private tours.