Villa Medicea di Arena Metato

Villa Medicea di Arena Metato is a Renaissance building in San Giuliano Terme with a rectangular layout, two towers, and stone windows topped with triangular pediments. The main entrance is decorated with a Medici coat of arms carved in Carrara marble.

Giulio dei Medici, appointed admiral of the Medici fleet at Porto Pisano in 1563, built this residence during the second half of the 16th century. The estate was created to express the family's power and wealth in the region.

The interior displays a stone fireplace with the Medici emblem, wooden ceilings, and two vaulted rooms decorated by a 19th-century artist. These elements shape how the rooms feel when you walk through them.

The estate includes a roughly 7,000 square meter park with ancient holm oaks and is protected by the Fine Arts authority of Pisa. The spacious grounds are pleasant for walking around.

The original owner Giulio dei Medici was the son of Alessandro de Medici and descended from a family line tracing back to Duke Lorenzo of Urbino. This mixed heritage was uncommon for his time period.