Villa Puccini di Scornio, 18th-century noble villa in Pistoia, Italy
Villa Puccini di Scornio is a villa on via Dalmazia in the Scornio locality near Pistoia. Its noble salon and adjoining rooms are decorated with frescoes by leading Florentine painters of the time, including Giovanni Domenico Ferretti. The building was later given a neoclassical renovation by the Pistoian engineer Bonsignore.
Tommaso Puccini, a physician at the grand-ducal court of Florence, commissioned Francesco Maria Gatteschi to design the villa and its Italian garden for citrus cultivation, but construction remained unfinished at his death. Giuseppe Puccini later entrusted the neoclassical renovation to the Pistoian engineer Bonsignore. Between 1825 and 1845, Niccolò Puccini built the park around the villa, continuing work begun by his brother Domenico. After Niccolò's death in 1852, his assets were auctioned and the property was divided.
The park opened to the public during the summer days of the Festa delle Spighe, a festival mixing old pagan rites for the fertility of the fields with Christian processions to the Romitorio and Calvario hills, plus races and games meant to educate the people. Niccolò Puccini's 1852 will put his goods up for auction and split the estate.
The building currently houses a music and dance school with event spaces that can accommodate up to 70 people. Visitors should check ahead since the rooms may be reserved for school activities or private rentals.
The park's 123 hectares once opened to the public during the summer Festa delle Spighe, a mix of pagan fertility rites and Christian processions to the Romitorio and Calvario hills. Niccolò Puccini also had a terracotta statue of Carl Linnaeus erected at Capostrada, outside the main grounds.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,069 contributors worldwide.