Medici villas and gardens in Tuscany

As the first example of the connection between architecture, gardens and the environment,the villas represent an enduring reference for princely residences throughout Italy and Europe. Their gardens and integration into the natural environment helped develop the appreciation of landscape characteristic of Humanism and the Renaissance. 

The economic, financial and political fortunes of the Medici were behind extensive patronage that had a decisive effect on the cultural and artistic history of modern Europe. Among the resulting architectural and aesthetic forms, the Medici villas in deep harmony with their gardens and rural environment are among the most original of the Italian Renaissance.  

Online:

• Villas et jardins des Médicis en Toscane (UNESCO)

Renaissance(s)

This World Heritage-listed property illustrates the Italian Renaissance – at a time when the Loire Valley is paying tribute to the French Renaissance for the 500th anniversary of Francis I's accession to the throne. 

Mission Val de Loire is taking part in the European programme "ReNeu: New Renaissance in Europe" which is bringing together the Tuscany region (project coordinator), Krakow and the Malopolska province (Villa Decius association), Granada (Council of the Alhambra and the Generalife) and Setepes (Directorate of Culture of the North Region of Portugal). 

The programme sets out to design cultural itineraries on the Renaissance in Europe.