Prato and Pistoia: Discovering the Medici Villas of Montalbano

The four Medici villas are located between the provinces of Prato and Pistoia, rotating like satellites around Monte Albano, the large hunting reserve of the Medici family. Villa Ambra at Poggio a Caiano, Villa La Ferdinanda at Artimino, Villa La Magia at Quarrata and Villa Montevettolini are the cornerstones of a countryside residential system that developed between 1400 and 1500 by Florentine noblemen for its hunting activities. We start our itinerary at the Villa of Poggio a Caiano, a municipality 15 km from Prato. Around 1485, the nearby Cascine di Tavola was concluded, Lorenzo the Magnificent consulted his trusted architect, Giuliano da Sangallo, to give shape to what would become the model of an out-of-city Renaissance villa, no longer a fortress, but a perfect union between symmetry and classical simplicity. On the top of the Artimino hill, the Medici villa stands unopposed, called the “I cento camini” or “La Ferdinanda” in honour of its founder.
The building was actually wanted by Ferdinando I, who commissioned it from the architect Bernardo Buontalenti. From Artimino, we reach the centre of Quarrata, a municipality at the northern slopes of Montalbano. Villa La Magia was built during the 14th century by the Panciatichi from Pistoia and was then purchased by Francesco I in 1583. Its unique position oversaw the connecting centre between Poggio and Artimino on one side and Montevettolini on the other. The last stage of the journey among the Medici villas of Montalbano takes us to the western slopes near to Montecatini. Situated on a high hillock, the Villa di Montevettolini rises up. It was built in 1595 on an existing Medici property that was also once used for hunting by the Grand-Duke Ferdinando I.

(Portions of this article first appeared in "Toscana & Chianti News")
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