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Giuliano da Sangallo restructured (1480) this greatest Medici villa for Lorenzo the Magnificent. The ballroom is a pinnacle of Mannerist painting by Pontormo, Andrea del Sarto and Alessandro Allori. Francesco I and his second wife Bianca Cappello died here in 1587, apparently poisoned, and Vittorio Emanuele II used it for amorous assignations with his mistress.

Buontalenti laid out the vast Pratolino park for Francesco I de’ Medici (1568–81). The waterworks of luminous jet sprays and singing fountains have long fallen into disrepair, and the villa itself was demolished in 1824, but what remains is still spectacular, especially the figure of Appennino rising out of a lily pond.

This villa was rebuilt for Ferdinando I de’ Medici by Buontalenti (1595). Volterrano decorated the courtyard with the Glory of the Medici frescoes (1636–48). The English-style park is 17th-century.

This 16th-century villa was radically altered by Elisa Baciocchi to suit her 19th-century Napoleonic tastes. Only the 17th-century gardens are open.

The statue-studded villa is 16th-century, though the mythological frescoes inside are late 18th. Juvarra’s Baroque gardens survive to the west side of the villa; the rest were landscaped in English style in the 19th century.

A 16th-century Buontalenti villa for Ferdinando I. The multitude of chimneys and lack of gardens hint that this was a hunting lodge for winter sport. The basement houses a small museum of archaeology.

Though the villa (1633–52) is currently closed, the 17thand 18th-century park, which is set into a steep hillside with statues and fountains aplenty, is still open to the public.

Cosimo I had Tribolo lay out the marvellous gardens in 1541, a combination of clipped hedges, ponds, ilex woods and statuary. Only the gardens are open.

The villa’s wines were the first to be called “Chianti” (in 1404). This is also where the real Mona Lisa was born (1479) and where, more recently, Much Ado about Nothing was filmed. Guided tours include wine samples; a full tour includes lunch.

Tiny castle commissioned from Michelozzo (1451) by Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici. Open only for private functions, although you can visit the gardens by appointment.