Continued from previous post…
Our stop was not long as our next destination was taking us to a splendorous villa, originally built in the early 1500’s- The Villa Reale di Marlia.
We picnicked in the car as we drove to this quite worthy spot to stop at. I’ll post the Estate’s website and the Wiki article if you would like to read about its illustrious past, but its most interesting claim to fame was that it was Napolean’s sister’s summer home from 1806-1814. Many others have come and gone, and it recently underwent (ongoing) a massive renovation and is open to the public for tours, guided or self.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Marlia
https://villarealedimarlia.it/en/
We paid our entry fee (nominal) after finding a parking spot and found a place to sit at the little treat shop set in the expansive gardens with baked goodies and coffee while we planned our stroll.
This little guy gave us a chuckle as we wound our way along the path…
until it hissed at us… wherein we screamed like little girls and made a hasty exit.
The gardens stretched for what seemed like miles with all kinds of themed areas: The Citrus Garden, the Rose Garden, the Camelia Garden, the Evergreen Garden, etc… Here are some of the photos of our wanderings about the property and I totally wished I’d had one of my Regency Era gowns on with a parasol for our visit! Being late in the Fall, there wasn’t a ton blooming but it was absolutely beautiful nonetheless.
This little building is called Pan’s Grotto. We were fascinated by the details and whimsy!
One of my favorite outbuildings was the Chapel of Saint Frances Xavier. I thought the marble works in Florence were quite something, but Friends, check THESE out!!! Look at the lace and the petals!
We saved the actual villa house for last; we enjoyed walking from room to room immensely, but sadly they did not allow any photography in the house. There was a docent sitting at the entrance with a hefty bank of security footage rolling and I wasn’t eager to break the rules. If you would really like to see photos, there are images available, but for me, rules are rules. I can tell you, if you admire exquisitely restored 17th-18th c. furniture, this is darn near Nirvana.
What was really quite astonishing was that the villa sat empty for many, many years with all of its original furnishings intact and each piece was meticulously restored using local artisans. Not just the furniture, but every fresco was re-painted, every plaster frieze was resorted to as close as they could get to its original state, the plumbing re-done…. Everything! It’s really quite something of an undertaking! Here’s a little info-banner of a pre-restoration and after-:
My rebellion did get the better of me as we walked out onto the upper-level porch where I shot one photo through the glass of the library. I mean, the rules said “no photography INSIDE the house”.
Again, we didn’t linger too very long as we had another attraction we wanted to get to for the remainder of our day. Stay tuned for Montecatini Terme and the Tettucio Spa!