Villa il Pino Florence: from ancient monastery to elegant villa


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Curiosity and information on Villa il Pino, changes in history and architectural styles used with particular decorations.


From monastery to villa

The ancient villa il Pino, located in Florence in via Bolognese, was initially a female monastery belonging to the Cistercian Order, a monastic order born in Citeaux, a town in the French region of Burgundy, in 1098.

It was commissioned by Maso di Bartolino di Drudolo della Lastrabar who left it said in his will that a monastery was built on his farm to be dedicated to San Bartolomeo alla Lastra.


The building was put under construction in 1354 and, once finished, in 1360 it became the residence of the nuns and was consecrated by the bishop Andrea Corsini.

But in 1424 there were strong discontent between the nuns and the bishop of Fiesole for authoritative issues, as the consecrated women wanted to depend only on the Abbey of Settimo while the bishops wanted to exercise their power over them.

A few years later the convent was decommissioned and all its assets were incorporated into the patrimony of the Fiesolan diocese by Pope Niccolò V.


Following these events, the intended use changed which made the building a villa divided into two parts, one of which was used as a stately home and the other as a rectory for the parish of Santa Croce al Pino.

In the nineteenth century it was bought first by the Della Gherardesca family and later by the Rueggers who undertook a profound restoration.

As for architecture, seeing the villa today, it appears in an eighteenth-century style, adjacent to the church of Santa Croce al Pino, with pietra serena decorations on the facade and a noble coat of arms of the Della Gherardesca placed on one side.

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