Pitti Palace and The Boboli Gardens

Come and breath the noble life style of 400 hundred years of history where generations of different noble families have lived.
The Pitti Palace was the first Royal Palace in Europe and it is the model that inspired the Grand Palace of Versailles.
Built in 1440 by the Pitti family to compete with the Medici family. Ironically they lost the property precisely to the Medici family 100 years later.
Owned by the Medici, the Pitti Palace became more luxurious and it was enlarged greatly in size.
Living in the Pitti Palace, the Medici created an extensive art collection with masterpieces from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. These furnishings are still found there today. Certainly not to be missed are the pieces by Botticelli, Raffaello,Tiziano, Caravaggio and Rubens along with many others. The Medici’s ability to collect massive amounts of masterpieces was beyond most noble family’s means at that time.
Later the Pitti Palace became the home of different families that succeeded the Medici after their dynasty ended. For example: the Habsburg Lorraine, Elisa Bonaparte, sister of Napoleone and lastly the Savoy family which was the royal family of Italy.

Behind the Pitti Palace, you will be amazed to find a magnificent hillside garden designed by major architects of the 1500’s for a spoiled princess, Eleonora from Toledo. The Boboli Garden was intended to entertain the court in their abundant free time.
The Boboli Garden was embellished with fountains, water games, secret caves, a maze and a zoo with exotic animals to show the guests the grand court in order to astound them with rarities and extravagances.
Walking together in the beauty of the garden, we will relive the use of its different areas.
In the Buontalenti cave, Francesco I of the Medici was used to seduce his guests with its surprises.

Strolling through the Boboli Garden will be a way to experience the outstanding relationship between Italian nobles and nature.
The Boboli garden was personalized by all the dynasties that had lived in the Pitti Palace over the centuries. The result today is the classic Italian, French and English garden styles , adorned with a collection of sculptures dating from the roman times up to the XX century.