Villa Medicea di Careggi, Florence

This 14th-century building was commissioned by Cosimo il Vecchio. Originally owned by the Lippi family, it passed to the Medici family in the 15th Century and the villa saw both the birth of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his death in 1492, as well as the death of his grandfather, Cosimo il Vecchio. The latter declared it his favorite residence and made it the head of the Neo-Platonic Academy. Lorenzo the Magnificent liked to surround himself with prominent scholars of philosophy such as Marsilio Ficino, Angelo Poliziano, Pico della Mirandola and other members of the Academy. Cosimo, meanwhile, transferred his library and some of his collections here, accommodating Ficino in a nearby house. The many alterations during the Medici and Lorenzo periods as well as the many interventions of various owners over the last two centuries have, unfortunately, not left a trace of the original gardens which were an important aspect of the estate.