Villa Bernardini in Vicopelago

Villa Bernardini in Vicopelago is an example of the lasting influence of the austere Renaissance forms in Lucca architecture in the 1600s. It was completed in 1615 according to a stone frieze decorating the architrave above the entry: "BERNARDINUS BERNARDINIUS A.D. MDCXV".  

The many rooms inside the villa are totally decorated with furniture and furnishings from over the centuries (1600 - 1700 - 1800), many of which were commissioned by the Bernardini family (sofas, high chairs, tables) with the family crest sculpted or painted on them, making the villa particularly interesting for scholars and enthusiasts.

The large heart-shaped lawn behind the villa, which descends slightly towards the gate, still conserves the two sequoia trees dating to the mid-1800s. Throughout the rest of the garden and near the villa, there are groups of unusual but interesting plants and trees. To the right of the villa, you can reach the former vegetable garden that was transformed into a secret garden in the mid-1700s. From here, you can get to the large limonaia, its walls covered in climbing figs and which conserves a massive Carrara marble tub opposite the entrance. 

At the top of the garden, there is a green theatre made with boxwood hedges. The low parallelepipedic hedges, topped with spherical shapes, divide the theatre into multiple levels, forming an immensely scenic amphitheatre behind the villa.