Villa Bellavista in Buggiano: a Tuscan Baroque building

Italiano

Near Borgo a Buggiano, along the road that connects Borgo a Buggiano with Chiesina Uzzanese, a few kilometers from Montecatini Terme, is the splendid Villa Bellavista, a Baroque-style building dating back to the 17th century, it is among the most beautiful villas in Tuscan baroque.

The building is now owned by the Ministry of the Interior which has assigned it to the National Fire Brigade Assistance Work (Opera Nazionale Assistenza Vigili del Fuoco), in some rooms of the Villa the Regional Historical Museum of the Fire Brigade is set up.

In 1673 the Marquis Francesco Feroni bought a farm with 45 farms from the Grand Duke Cosimo III de’ Medici, where he had a mill and a furnace built. Subsequently, in 1696 Francesco’s son, Fabio Feroni, began the construction of Villa Bellavista, the building was designed by the Florentine architect Antonio Maria Ferri.

The structure has a Baroque facade with a balcony and has four protruding corner turrets. The entrance is formed by a portico with three arches. Later a large mechanical clock was placed on the top of the facade. Inside, the rooms are distributed around a large central hall frescoed by Pier Dandini and create, with their arrangement, a beautiful perspective effect.

The villa also has a garden and an elegant noble chapel. The garden, divided by a majestic avenue with a series of statues on the sides and various ornamental vases, is embellished by a large central basin. The noble chapel, a family chapel, has a circular plan, and inside it is decorated with stucco and marble, there are also a marble tabernacle from the Apuan Alps and a painting of “Santi Anna and Giacinto” by Pier Dandini. Externally it is surrounded by a portico and is surmounted by a dome.

Italiano