In this tour you will visit 2 authentic Medicean villas, Villa della Petraia and Villa di Castello.
Villa della Petraia was bought by Brunelleschi, then it was sold to the rich Florentine Palla Strozzi in 1492, in the end it was bought by Cosimo I de’ Medici in 1544. Cosimo gave the building to his son Ferdinando, who became Granduca in 1587. He transformed the structure from a noble building to a royal residence.
Villa di Castello is located beside the layout of an ancient roman aqueduct, which give the name of the city. It’s one of the most ancient possession of the Medici family, it was renovated and sold to Lorenzo and Giovanni di Pier Francesco de’ Medici in 1477. Then it was given to Giovanni delle Bande Nere, in the end Cosimo organized the garden as an instrument of propaganda. He decorated the garden  with a lot of fountains and sculptures.
Characteristic of the garden is the “Grotto of the Animals”, built by Tribolo, it is divided into three recesses, each one containing a basin decorated with marbles, shells and mosaics.
Duration: 3 h