The Sammezzano Castle, surrounded by a large park, is located in the locality of the same name near Leccio, in the municipality of Reggello in the province of Florence.
The main building is an eclectic construction with a prevalence of orientalist style, the effect of the nineteenth-century restructuring of a large farm built in 1605 at the behest of the Ximenes D'Aragona family.
The history of the place, however, is older and is traced back to the Roman era. The historian Robert Davidsohn, in his History of Florence, states that in 780 Charlemagne may have passed there on his return from Rome, where he had his son baptized by the Pope.
The estate to which the castle belongs belonged over the centuries to several important families: the Altoviti, then, at the behest of Duke Cosimo, to Giovanni Jacopo de 'Medici, who finally sold it to Sebastiano Ximenes. These assets remained with the Ximenes d'Aragona family until the last heir, Ferdinando, who died in 1816.
In a cabreo drawn up by the engineer Giuseppe Faldi in 1818 the castle appears as a structure of substantial volume, with a bastion and an entrance staircase, on the opposite side to that of the current access stairs and of which today there is no longer any trace.
Then, following a long process relating to the will of Ferdinando Ximenes, the assets, the name, the coat of arms and the titles of the Ximenes d'Aragona family, as well as the vast estate of Sammezzano passed to the eldest son of Vittoria, sister of Ferdinand, and wife of Niccolò Panciatichi.
Subsequently it was inherited by Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d'Aragona who redesigned it between 1853 and 1889.
In about forty years the Marquis designed, financed and commissioned the park and castle of Sammezzano, the most important example of orientalist architecture in Italy .
All the bricks, stuccos and tiles were made on site by suitably trained local workers.
On the wave of the cultural current called "Orientalism" which spread throughout Europe from the beginning of the nineteenth century and which saw Florence as one of the main centers, Ferdinando began to modify the existing structure and create new rooms: the entrance hall in the 1853, in 1862 the Corridor of the Stalactites, the Ballroom in 1867 up to the central tower which bears the carved date of 1889.
During 1878 it also hosted the king of Italy Umberto I.
After the war it was used as a luxury hotel and set for numerous film productions.
Despite the 1999 auction and some urgent restoration work, it is in a state of neglect.
In October 2015 the castle was again put up for auction due to the liquidity problems of the Italian-English company that bought it in 1999; this, with a base of 20 million euros, went deserted.
Sammezzano Castle
Address: Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, 6, 50066
Phone:
Site:
http://www.sammezzano.org/Location inserted by
culturalword abco