Villa Medicea delle Pianore, Renaissance villa in Santa Maria a Monte, Italy

Villa Medicea delle Pianore is a Renaissance country house in Tuscany consisting of several structures including the main residence, farm buildings, and a chapel arranged around a central courtyard. The rooms feature frescoes and practical details such as vaulted ceilings and staircases that reflect how people lived at the time.

On 27 December 1592 the Comunità di Santa Maria a Monte granted the Pianora woodland to Cristina di Lorena, wife of Ferdinando I, for an annual rent of 75 scudi, 120 pounds of lamb and one scudo for the preacher's bed. The fattoria was formed in 1596, when the preacher's house and the house "dei Lombardi" were built and the Romanesque church of San Frediano a Tolli was rebuilt and consecrated to Santa Cristina.

The name Pianore, formerly Pianora, comes from the flat expanse of fields that, with the villa, farmhouses and woods, formed the Pianore estate. The woods once made up the 16th-century bandita delle Pianora of the community of Santa Maria a Monte. Since 1596 the estate has been a Medici fattoria worked by mezzadri, preferably hired from the local workforce.

Access is via paths leading through the surrounding fields, so wear appropriate footwear for uneven terrain. A visit allows you to explore the buildings from the outside and partly from within, so take time to visit at a relaxed pace to see all areas.

The medieval oratory was restored together with the Romanesque church of San Frediano a Tolli, reconsecrated in 1596 to Santa Cristina in honour of Grand Duchess Cristina di Lorena; a plaque to the right of the main entrance records this. The grand duchess had taken the Pianora land on a perpetual lease on 27 December 1592, paying 75 scudi a year, 120 pounds of lamb for the poor on Easter morning and one scudo for the preacher's bed.