18th-century Medici garden at Villa La Quiete opens to public in Florence

On May 16, 2025, the 18th-century garden of Villa La Quiete in Florence will open to the public for the first time. The garden, designed between 1724 and 1727 for Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici (1667-1743), the last Medici heir and Electress Palatine, surrounds the villa on the hill of Castello. The restoration, funded by PNRR with €1.8 million from the Ministry of Culture, was won by the University of Florence (Unifi) and executed by AICOM with landscape consultants Gianfranco Franchi and Giorgio Galletti. The project included botanical restoration, architectural repairs, and safety upgrades. The garden features an Italian-style layout, a terrace, a "ragnaia" (bird-catching structure), a restored grotto, and the "Stanzoni dei vasi." The upper garden has been replanted with bulbs and flowering species according to Electress's designs, and historical documents guided the reintroduction of flowers, medicinal herbs, citrus, and ancient fruits. Villa La Quiete, owned by the Tuscany Region and managed by the University's Museum System, also offers guided tours of the villa (€5, one hour) including the Electress's frescoed apartment, the Church of SS. Trinità, the 17th-century pharmacy, and Renaissance works by Botticelli and Ghirlandaio. The opening coincides with the 250th anniversary of the Specola, origin of the University's Natural History Museum, and the exhibition "Terra Incognita" featuring Arianna Fioratti's fantastical bestiary at the Specola until May 4.