History
This is an extraordinary overlooking Florence: 4 hectares of parkland between the left bank of the Arno, the Montecuccoli hills and the medieval walls, which was originally a system of walled vegetable gardens near Palazzo Mozzi.
In the eighteenth century Giulio Mozzi enriched the property with a fountain wall with a base of mosaic made from many different materials.
In the nineteenth century the baroque garden was extended with the purchase of the Anglo-Chinese garden of Villa Manadora, created by Luigi Le Blanc at the beginning of the century. Subsequently Carolath Benten Princes bought the property and embellished it with Victorian details.
In 1913 Stefano Bardini, an antique dealer, bought the complex built an avenue in order up the Villa, destroying traces of the original medieval gardens, and reunified the two buildings on the Costa San Giorgio. Inheritance vicissitudes began on the succession of his son Ugo, in 1965, ending only in 1996. In 2000 the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze began the restoration, which lasted five years, with the help of the Fondazione Parchi Monumentali Bardini e Peyron.
From the circular belvedere one can admire many varieties of hydrangeas and wisteria tunnel. Bourbon roses and irises line
the baroque stairway: in the lower garden there are borders and a green theatre. The azalea field is in the English style wood, once part of the Anglo-Chinese garden. It is possible to admire the monuments of Florence from Via de' Bardi. On leaving the villa one comes out onto the Costa San Giorgio leading to the Boboli Garden a few minutes away. then descending towards the city through about 7 km of panting.
