Villa Medicea

About the middle of the 15th century, a new style of living came into fashion among the gentry of central Italy. It began with the Medici. Members of that family took to spending part of the year in the country. At first they stayed at the old fortified farm-houses that had protected their estates in the later Middle Ages. However, they soon began to require something more refined, little country palaces where they could relax, entertain friends, read and hear music. At Cafaggiolo, the Medici castle from the 14th century was transformed in 1452 into a villa following designs of Michelozzo which retained some of the older features of the castle. It became a meeting place for some of the greatest intellectuals of the Italian Renaissance.