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The beautiful houses where the Medici lived in Florence

In recent years we have learned about the Medici family thanks to TV series, but did they really show us everything about the true history of this family?

Article by: Luigi Sorreca Free Tour Florence - Another Florence

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If you want to know more, join our free tours where we'll show you the places where the Medici lived and give you some interesting details about their life and activities in Florence.

Equestrian Monument of Cosimo I (photo by DEZALB via Pixabay)

A little historical introduction

The Medici family dominated the history of Florence for over 300 years. They began their rise in the 13th century thanks to two important activities: trading and banking.

We can begin the genealogy of this branch of the Medici from Averardo known as Bicci, grandfather of Cosimo the Elder, who lived around the middle of the 14th century.

The son, Giovanni di Bicci (1360-1429), was the founder of the economic greatness of the Medici and he distinguished himself especially for the assistance of the sick in the epidemic of 1417. He also contributed to the erection of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence.

During the 15th century, they began to take an interest in art and architecture, assuming a key role in the Florentine and Italian Renaissance.

Among the most important members of the family we can mention:

  • Cosimo de’ Medici, also known as Cosimo the Elder (1389-1464). He was a politician and banker and he became the first lord of Florence and the first prominent statesman of the Medici family.
  • His nephew Lorenzo de’ Medici, (1449-1492) known as Lorenzo il Magnifico, has been the lord of Florence from 1469 to his death. Writer, patron, poet and humanist, he has been one of the most significant politicians of the Renaissance, both for having embodied the ideal of the humanist Prince and for his very careful management of power.
  • The Grand Duke Cosimo I (1519/1574). He changed the face of Florence, giving his government the image of wise and enlightened power, bringing economic and cultural prestige to the city. Among the various architectural works he promoted is the Uffizi Gallery, originally intended for the administrative offices of the State and today one of the most important museums in the world.

Their dynasty remained important for Florence until the 18th century and thanks to the strong ties with Rome, three members of the Medici family became Popes:

•             Giovanni de' Medici took the name of Leone X (pontiff from 1513 to 1521).

•             Giulio de' Medici took the name of Clemente VII (pontiff from 1523 to 1534).

•             Alessandro de' Medici became Leone XI (pontiff from 1605 until his death in the same year).

Giovanni de 'Medici (Pope Leone X) was one of the seven children had by Lorenzo il Magnifico by Clarice Orsini. Giulio de 'Medici (Pope Clemente VII), one of his nephews.

Where did the Medici family live in Florence?

In Tuscany there are beautiful villas owned by the Medici but their residences in Florence were essentially three:

1.            Palazzo Medici Riccardi

2.            Palazzo Vecchio

3.            Palazzo Pitti

Their first official house: Palazzo Medici-Riccardi

Palazzo Medici Riccardi was built in the 15th century by Michelozzo for Cosimo the Elder and is the place where the Medici family began to consolidate their power in Florence.

Inside the house you can admire the splendid Chapel of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli. Some of the most illustrious members of the family can be recognized in the frescoes of the small chapel, including the famous Lorenzo il Magnifico.

Palazzo Medici-Riccardi (I, Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

In 1540, Cosimo I, was appointed Gran Duke and moved to Palazzo Vecchio.

This beautiful medieval castle was built in 1299. Originally called "Palazzo dei Priori" (Priory palace), in the 15th century it became "Palazzo della Signoria", from the name of the main body of the Republic of Florence, the "Signoria".

Palazzo Vecchio (Photo by Matt Twyman via Pixabay)

In 1540, when Duke Cosimo I de' Medici transformed it into his residence, it was called "Palazzo Ducale" (Ducal Palace). Cosimo I was responsible for major renovations and expansion of the building, coordinated by court architect Giorgio Vasari.

The name "Palazzo Vecchio" (old Palace) was given after 1565, when the court of Duke Cosimo I moved to Palazzo Pitti.

You can buy the entrance and videoguide tickets to Palazzo Vecchio here.

Palazzo Pitti (Photo2021, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons)

Palazzo Pitti is the largest palace in Florence.

It was built by the rich merchant Luca Pitti in the middle of the 15th century following a project designed by Brunelleschi. In 1549 Cosimo I and his wife Eleonora di Toledo purchased the palace and many architects and artists began to work on it to transform it into the Grand-Ducal official residence.

Today Pitti complex hosts six different museums:

- Palatine Gallery: collection of paintings from the Renaissance onward.

- Modern Art Gallery: collection of paintings and statues from the 19-20th centuries.  

- Treasury of the Grand-Dukes: collection of jewellery and precious stones.

- Gallery of Costume and Fashion

Boboli Gardens (Photo by Vicky T via Unsplash)

- Imperial and Royal apartments

- The Garden of Boboli: a must-see in Florence. It’s a 45.000m² garden and it’s a mix between Renaissance, Italian and British (romantic) gardens. It’s full of statues, little lakes and different kinds of trees and there are plenty of traces left from the Medici.

You can buy the entrance tickets to Palazzo Pitti here.

Le ville medicee (The Medici villas),  deserve a separate chapter. They are rural architectural complexes that came into possession in various ways by the Medici family between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries and are located in the surroundings of Florence and in Tuscany.

In addition to being places of rest and leisure, they represented the “summer palace" on the territories administered by the Medici and the center of agricultural economic activities in the area in which they were located.

Villa Ferdinanda in Artimino (Prato) (Photo by Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wilimedia Commons)

On 23 June 2013, the XXXVII Session of the World Heritage Committee registered all of these 14 villas on the list of UNESCO sites as the 49th property in Italy.

In the above photo you can admire one of them: The "Ferdinanda", known as the "Villa of the hundred fireplaces", which is certainly one of the most beautiful, as well as for the majesty of the structure, for the splendid position overlooking the best of the Tuscan countryside.

Almost all the structures listed in our article can be visited, some for free and others need a ticket and sometime a reservation in advance. If you are interested in visiting them, you can contact us! Another Florence guides will be happy to guide you through the history of the Medici family.

4 comments on “The beautiful houses where the Medici lived in Florence”

  1. This is amazing history! Very interested on the. Medici family as they were a great family who were powerful but careful in their politics. Love this history! I would love to. Go to Florence!

  2. I wish I could come and visit all this country area it looks so beautifulfrom the internet pictures, my grandfather was from there "Florence" and something about "Sicily",and was sent to America cuz of a war from what i was told,
    it was him "Salvatore Medici,medes,medisi&as I spell it Medica" 2 bothers and a sister, they cam into New York area, my grandfather was only 9 At the time, I don't know to much about the others other than the sister stayed up north somewhere and the 3 brothers came down to Louisiana (I joke with friends & tell them our grandfather had to leave his home of Italy that is shaped like an old fashion lady's boot, so he came to Louisiana that is shaped like a man's boot in the opposite direction), anyway 2 of the brothers made homes in "New Iberia, Louisiana " & the other in "Franklin, Louisiana " my grandfather came down to "Houma, Louisiana " somewhere in the middle of all this he had to join the U.S. ARMY to become a U.S. CITIZEN, in Houma, he was an oyster fisherman built a 2 story home, nothing fancy, he married and had 7 children and the boys continued to work the oyster industry for a long time, my father was the 2nd to youngest child but the youngest boy, then came me an only child, I am the 8th to youngest of my generation but had the privilege to live by my grandfather's side from birth till he passed away when I was 5 yrs old. From my calculation on his military papers I belive he was born in 1891 in Florence Italy, something else is in his military papers look like the spelling of an ( f or c efales or f or c efoles), I really wish I could get more information on who his mother and father was, where did some of the family go, cuz what I'm reading, there is no family there in the area. Someone somewhere had to carry this on in the country of Italy or maybe France, I had seen a Documentary on Sophia laurent that she had always stayed at a hotel called by the name "medica", I think I seen this like bk in the latter 80s r 90s.
    Thanks for your time, I hope this will get in the hands of someone of Interest and could relate back to me on how to find some information on our Ancestors. There was something else in his military papers that said something about "A SUBJECT OF VICTOR EMMANUEL III KING OF ITALY" if u might know what that means to let me know, I'm taking for granted that it means he was a citizen of this king and country? I appreciate your time to help understand and info I can get.

    Thank u,
    The late Salvatore medici granddaughter,
    Chyrel medic
    11/3/2023

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