Villa di Cafaggiolo

The Villa di Cafaggiolo is an ancient Medici family property acquired in the 14th century. It is located close to the road to Bologna. It was originally a medieval farm. In 1451 Cosimo the Elder asked the architect Michelozzo to restructure it and make it grander while also transforming it into a summer residence with a garden for leisure and rest. The ancestral home of the Medici, it retains the overall aspect of a medieval building with different sized square towers and machiolated battlements. In plan, it is a square-shaped complex, determined by the assemblage of medieval buildings and additional buildings around two asymmetrical courtyards. It is the prototype of the early fortified Medici Villa. This is the typical transitional solution between medieval and Reanissance architecture and the first appearance of the domus rustica.