Medici Palace of Seravezza
The Villa is home to the Museum of Work and Folk Traditions of Historical Versilia
The Palace of Seravezza is a Medici residence commissioned by Cosimo I between 1560 and 1564 to function as a military outpost in Versilia, at the time a highly contested territory among Florence, Lucca, Pisa and Genoa, mainly for its marble quarries. The Villa is a fortified palace that served primarily as the Grand Duke's vacation spot. However, as indicated by its robust makeup, it would transform into a defensive military structure when necessary.
With the creation of the Kingdom of Italy, the building became the seat of the Town Hall and remained so until 1967.
Today, it’s home to a public library and the Museum of Work and Folk Traditions of Historical Versilia,where you’ll find a number of objects, instruments and furnishings, the result of extensive research, collection and documentation in the early 1970s. The Medici Palace, vaunting a spectacular front lawn and the Apuan Alps in the distance, often hosts a number of important modern and contemporary art exhibits.
Next to the Palazzosi is a chapel built at the time of the Grand Duchess Maria Cristina of Lorraine, who succeeded her husband Ferdinando I in 1609. The well in the centre of the lovely internal courtyard dates back to the same period, surmounted by a trophy depicting a trout which according to popular tradition is the copy of the one fished out from the Vezza stream by Maria Cristina in 1603.
Inside the palace, it's also possible to visit the cellar where a collection of centuries-old coppi (vessels) for oil and grains is exhibited, dating back to between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.
