Villa di Coltano, Renaissance villa near San Piero a Grado, Pisa, Italy

Villa di Coltano is a Renaissance residence near San Piero a Grado featuring symmetrical proportions, four corner turrets, and whitewashed walls in the traditional Medici manner. The property sits within a park that together with the buildings displays the typical layout of a grand country estate from this period.

The first residence on the estate probably rose around the year 1000 at today's Palazzi, where a column near the church and perimeter walls inside the palazzo remain. In 1562 a papal bull of Pius IV transferred the property from the monks of San Savino to the Knights of Santo Stefano, the order Cosimo I founded against Turkish corsairs. In 1586 Bernardo Buontalenti rebuilt it for Don Antonio de' Medici as the area's administrative centre, with four corner turrets.

The estate's name comes from the Coltano plain, and its hunting tradition shaped local life: it was one of eight grand-ducal hunting reserves, alongside Poggio Imperiale and San Rossore. Today the Comune di Pisa keeps the villa open and uses the park for public activities.

The property is open to visitors and managed by the Municipality of Pisa, with regular events held throughout the year. It is best to visit when weather permits to fully appreciate the outdoor spaces and park.

The villa is hidden from view by tall trees despite standing in the middle of a wide plain, so visitors often pass nearby without seeing it. The first record of the estate's land dates to 780, when a local noble asked the monks of San Savino for permission to hunt otter around the church of San Quirico di Coltano.