Castello dell'Acciaiolo, Medieval castle and villa in Scandicci, Italy

Castello dell'Acciaiolo is a castle-villa in Scandicci with two towers bearing Guelph battlements and a stone wall in filaretto masonry. Inside, rooms surround a courtyard: farm buildings to the west, noble rooms to the east, with 16th-century coffered ceilings and a large fireplace. A walled garden retains an exedra decorated with mosaic, and the 18th-century chapel of Santa Croce stands just outside the walls.

The earliest records date to the 14th century, when the complex was a crenellated fortilizio of Nardo di messer Bencivenni Rucellai at Carcherelli, controlling the Arno valley. In the 16th century it passed to the Davizzi, whose coat of arms remains on the north and south towers. Senator Roberto Acciaioli, son of Donato, bought it in 1546, giving the site its name; the entrance, staircase, coffered ceilings and large fireplace date from this period. The Gentile-Farinola family added the Santa Croce chapel in the 18th century.

The castle transformed from a military stronghold guarding the Arno River into a noble residence where the Acciaioli family conducted farming and lived as landowners. This shift from fortress to country home shaped how the building looks and was used.

The castle sits near Florence and is accessible via main roads to Scandicci from the city center. Access may be limited since the site operates for educational and research purposes under municipal management.

The north tower still bears the coat of arms of the Davizzi family, one of whose members named Neri was exiled from Florence for poisoning his captive wife. This heraldic mark serves as a reminder of a dark chapter tied to the building.