| Villa Medici at Careggi | |
|---|---|
Villa Medicea di Careggi | |
 Villa Medici in Careggifaçade | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Closed |
| Type | Villa |
| Architectural style | Italian Renaissance |
| Location | Careggi |
| Town or city | Toscana |
| Country | Italy |
| Coordinates | 43°48′33.8″N11°14′58.2″E / 43.809389°N 11.249500°E /43.809389; 11.249500 |
| Construction started | c. 1325 |
| Owner | Regione Toscana |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Michelozzo |
| Website | |
| Villa Medicea Careggi | |
TheVilla Medici at Careggi is a patrician villa in the hills nearFlorence,Tuscany,central Italy. It is part of theUNESCOWorld Heritage Site inscribed asMedici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany.
The villa was among the first[1] of a number ofMedici villas, notable as the site of thePlatonic Academy founded byCosimo de' Medici, who died at the villa in 1464. Like most villas of Florentine families, the villa remained a working farm that helped render the family self-sufficient. Cosimo's architect there, as elsewhere, wasMichelozzo, who remodelled the fortified villa which had something of the character of acastello. Its famous garden is walled about, like amedieval garden, overlooked by the upper-storeyloggias, with which Michelozzo cautiously opened up the villa's structure. Michelozzo'sVilla Medici in Fiesole has a more outward-looking, Renaissance character.
The property was purchased in 1417 by Cosimo de' Medici brother, Lorenzo.[2] At the death ofGiovanni di Bicci, Cosimo il Vecchio set about remodelling the beloved villa around its loggia-enclosed central courtyard. His grandson Lorenzo extended the terraced gardens and the shadedboschi.
Marsilio Ficino, who died at the villa in 1499, was a central member of the Platonic Academy.[3]Lorenzo de' Medici died at the villa in 1492,[4] after which it was ignored for a time until about 1615, when CardinalCarlo de' Medici undertook extensive projects to remodel the interior, and bring the garden up to date.
The villa property was purchased from the Lorraine heirs of the Medici in 1779 by Vincenzo Orsi; the Orsi heirs sold it to an Englishman, Francis Sloane, in 1848: Sloane planted exotics in the landscape:Cedar of Lebanon andHimalayan cedars, Californiansequoias,arbutus from the eastern Mediterranean and palms, which give the grounds their feeling of anarboretum. Today the villa belongs to the Tuscan public administration.[5]
It is currently in the process of restoration and is still closed to the public as of December 2024.[6]
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43°48′33.88″N11°14′58.28″E / 43.8094111°N 11.2495222°E /43.8094111; 11.2495222
