The Villa is Ambrogiana located on the left bank of the Arno along the river road from Florence to Livorno. Once a flourishing Medici hunting lodge, the Villa Ambrogiana formed share of a system of "villa-farms" designed to celebrate the power of the Medici dynasty, and it changed its function over time, becoming a self-sufficient production center that played an essential role in supplying provisions for the townhouses of the Grand Dukes.
The Villa's farm Ambrogiana was property of the Medici family in 1573. The villa was commissioned on the site of an existing mansion by Ferdinando I de 'Medici, the Cardinal who would become Roman Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1587. The new building, equipped with an oven, had corner towers as well as a central cloister with a cistern. When a plan was completed for the garden & the riverside entrance, the villa was furnished with a grotto decorated with stones, fossils, & reliefs by Giovan Battista del Tadda Ferrucci. The Villa Ambrosiana was a favorite leisure-time, hunting destination for members of the court as well as a comfortable resting place for guests of the Grand Dukes, as they made their way between Florence & Livorno.
