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This castle is in San Giustino (PG) and was built in the XV century as a military fortress by the Dotti di Santo Sepolcro Ghibelline family. In the second half of that century, it was destroyed by the Florentine Republic.

In 1487, it became a property of Niccolò di Manno Bufalini and it was restored by the Roman architect Mariano Savelli, advised by military advisors Giovanni and Camillo Vitelli: a massive building was thus created, with a quadrangular plan, four corner towers, and a large water moat.

Some further modifications started in 1530 and the fortress was eventually turned into a noble residence: large rooms were built and the new building stretched around a courtyard decorated with some heraldic fleur-de-lis. On the outside, a loggia and a monumental entrance were added.

Between the end of the XVII century and the early XVIII century, the building was renovated again by the architect and painter Giovani Ventura Borghesi, this time as a country villa with an Italian garden. In 1700, it was decorated with several Baroque works of art to celebrate the Bufalinis, who, in the meantime, had been granted the title of Marquises. In 1989, the villa became Italian State property.

THE VILLA TODAY

It is a rare example of an almost pristine noble abode, rich in rooms, precious paintings and furnishings.

THE GARDEN

This is an excellent example of an XVIII century Italian green area, which includes a rose garden, a trapezoidal boxwood labyrinth, a barrel-vaulted vegetable gallery, and grove with tall trees used for catching small birds.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)