The Villa di Quarto is a villa

Villa

A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...

 on via di Quarto in Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

, in the hilly zone at the foot of the Monte Morello

Monte Morello

Monte Morello is the highest mountain in the Florentine valley, Italy. It is located to the north-west of Florence and it spreads across the borders of the municipalities of Florence, Vaglia, Sesto Fiorentino and Calenzano....

. Quarto (fourth) is one of the toponyms relating to the Roman milestones

Millarium

The Milliarium Aureum was a monument, probably of gilded bronze, erected by the Emperor Caesar Augustus near the temple of Saturn in the central Forum of Ancient Rome. All roads were considered to begin from this monument and all distances in the Roman Empire were measured relative to that point...

, the most famous of which in this area is Sesto Fiorentino

Sesto Fiorentino

Sesto Fiorentino is a municipality in the province of Florence, Tuscany, central Italy. It has c. 46,700 inhabitants.- History :The oldest known human settlement in the area dates from the Mesolithic...

, of 45,000 inhabitants.

History

The villa was built in the 15th century and, after various changes of ownership, in 1613 it passed to the Pasquali family, who had it rebuilt by Alfonso Parigi

Alfonso Parigi

Alfonso Parigi the Younger was an Italian architect and scenographer, the son of Giulio Parigi.He worked mainly in Florence, beginning at a very early age as his father's assistant...

, designer of the Boboli

Boboli Gardens

The Boboli Gardens are a park in Florence, Italy, that is home to a collection of sculptures dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries, with some Roman antiquities.-History and layout:...

 extension. In the 19th century the villa took on its present appearance - it then belonged to Jérôme Bonaparte

Jérôme Bonaparte

Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...

, former king of Westphalia

Westphalia

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...

, who left it to his daughter Mathilde Bonaparte

Mathilde Bonaparte

Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine Bonaparte, Princesse Française , was a French princess and Salon holder. She was a daughter of Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte and his second wife, Catharina of Württemberg, daughter of King Frederick I of Württemberg.- Biography :Born in Trieste, Mathilde Bonaparte...

, wife of the Russian nobleman and industrialist Anatole Demidov

Anatole Demidov

Count Anatoly Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of San Donato , was a Russian industrialist, diplomat and arts patron of the Demidov family.-Early life:...

. The villa's many famous guests included the French historian and statistician Adolphe Thiers

Adolphe Thiers

Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...

, though its most famous resident- and certainly the resident who wrote most about his stay there- was the author Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

.

Villa

The building has a simple layout, with three floors on the hill side, while on the garden side there opens up a nineteenth-century loggia with three arches on twin columns, replacing an older eighteenth century arcade. The main entrance is located on the side hill, with large doors that lead to a hall enriched by marble busts and a frescoed vault. From the atrium starts monumental gray stone that leads to the first floor where the main saloon is located, the latter about 6 feet high, with vaulted and frescoed ceilings featuring nineteenth century motifs. This is connected to other rooms as grand and the gallery, running parallel to the terrace above the outside portico, from which is possible to enjoy the view of the large Italian garden and the great lawn of the English park. Currently, the house needs some structural and protective interventions in the outer parts.

External links

• Regione Toscana