Villa dell'Ombrellino, Renaissance villa in Bellosguardo district, Florence, Italy
Villa dell'Ombrellino sits on Bellosguardo hill and features a decorative metal pavilion in Chinese style along with extensive gardens filled with exotic plants. The Italian gardens were designed by landscape architect Cecil Pinsent during the 1920s.
Galileo Galilei lived in this villa from 1617 to 1631 and wrote his major work 'Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems' there. The villa received its name later from a decorative parasol that Countess Teresa Spinelli had installed in 1815.
The villa served as a gathering place for American scholars when Harvard art historian Charles Eliot Norton made it a hub for intellectual exchange. This circle attracted artists and thinkers who came to Florence seeking inspiration.
The villa sits on Piazza Bellosguardo atop a hill overlooking the city but is only visible from the outside. Visitors should wear sturdy shoes since the path to the hilltop is steep and the area is quite hilly.
The distinctive metal parasol that gave the villa its name was an unusual choice by the Countess and remains its defining feature to this day. This detail makes the site instantly recognizable to visitors exploring Florence.
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