Discovering Villa I Tatti in Florence

Villa I Tatti is, probably, one among the most interesting surprises offered in the surroundings of Florence.

The discovery of the treasures kept in these areas situated just outside the urban centre it’s an experience which can barely leave the careful visitor unenthusiastic.

Choosing a hotel in Florence situated in a central position, near the train station, you can enjoy the beauty of the city without giving up to outdoors hikes.

If you have enough time and the chance to extend your visit, we recommend you to leave the city and explore some places nearby (they are often inside the same Florentine municipal territory), which can hide artistic treasures worthy of the greatest attention, though they are often situated far from the usual flow of tourism.

Villa I Tatti rises in a delightful site in the immediate surrounding hills of the city, at about seven kilometres from the historic centre of Fiesole, and about three kilometres from the built-up area of Settignano, which is a historic community of the state capital.

The mansion has a very particular recent history, which deserves a brief historical overview, and it’s fundamental in order to understand the origin of the collections it hosts nowadays: it was founded in time immemorial and from age to age it was a property of some local noble families, until the property went, in the middle of the XIX century, to a rich English tycoon; this transition united tightly the mansion to the large Anglo-Saxon community which animated in those years the Florentine cultural life.

In the very first years of the XX century it was bought from the famous American art historian Bernard Berenson, who lived there till his death, in 1959.During the years Berenson lived in the mansion, he made many important restorations, the same ones we can admire to this day, like the beautiful Italian garden surrounding it.

Berenson himself gave, many years before his death, the mansion and all its contents to the Harvard University, which is still to this day the owner and it realized, from 1961, the headquarters of The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies of it, a centre of noteworthy world-wise scientific relevance.

The structure is available for visits from Monday to Friday only with advance reservation, for small groups, but it is really worth; first of all, the mansion hosts the interesting Collezione Berenson, which keeps considerable works from different Italian schools from the XIV to the XVI century, an archive, a rich library, and a photographic archive. The visit to the collection ends with a walk in the beautiful garden, which is, without a doubt, one of the greatest attractions.

Among the works exhibited we recommend you for their importance, the Frate Francescano and the Deposizione by Giotto, the Madonna col Bambino and other two panels by Gentile da Fabriano, the Ritratto di Vitellozzo Vitelli by Luca Signorelli, the Madonna col bambino by Domenico Veneziano, and other paintings by Pietro Lorenzetti, Bernardo Daddi, Ambrogio Bergognone, Vincenzo Foppa, Lorenzo Monaco, Sassetta, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Lorenzo Lotto etc.

Once you conclude the visit of Villa I Tatti, if you are a curious visitor, you can then explore the surrounding area, which offers many ideas, like the beautiful mansions of different ages scattered on the hills, or the picturesque village of Settignano, which is an historic small town which gave birth and hosted famous Renaissance artists and from the most recent history too.