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Erected on a hill on the northern slopes of Montalbano, this villa overlooks the surrounding area, boasting the sturdy look of a fortified manor that it has assumed over the centuries.
It was actually the first Grand Ducal investment on the eastern slopes of Montalbano; it was followed, about ten years later, by the construction of the Villa of Artimino and that of Montevettolini.

Those mansions, along with Villa of Cerreto Guidi and Villa dell’Ambrogiana, were used as a convenient retreat during the hunting trips of the Grand Dukes in their reserve on Montalbano (the “Barco Reale Mediceo”) and as a practical administration and production control centre for all their properties.

The painting by Giusto Utens, made a few years after the completion of the renovation works at Villa La Magia, captures the true soul of this property at the time of Ferdinand I. The buildings surrounding the house, together with the figures that animate the scene, also underline the typical agricultural and “leisure” nature of this estate: in front of the noble abode, some gentlemen are playing rope-ball, while a deer hunting scene takes place in the foreground. The area was evidently quite rich with game.
Assigned by Ferdinando I to Don Antonio de ‘Medici (the alleged son of Francesco I and Bianca Cappello), this property was sold in 1645 by Ferdinando II to Pandolfo Activanti from Florence.

Along with the farm, the was owned by the Attavanti family until February 1752. All the family members passed away, so their possessions passed to the Barons Bindaccio and Leone Ricasoli.
In 1766, Giulio Giuseppe Amati bought the property. His family commissioned the final arrangement of a part of the garden, on whose eastern side Giulio Giuseppe also had a lemon grove replacing the original one (built by the Attavanti in 1715) and a monumental gate (around 1797), installed at the beginning of the main road to the property.

The Amati from Pistoia died out in 1863 and the property eventually passed to the Counts Amati Cellesi. Since 2000, the villa has been owned by the Municipality of Quarrata.

Buontalenti, the architect commissioned by Grand Duke Francesco I, supposedly took care of the renovation works and the construction of the artificial lake, which we also can see represented in the works by Giusto Utens.

On his return from a hunting trip, Emperor Charles V visited La Magia in May 1536 – as evidenced by his “copper jug” still preserved today inside the mansion.

The main function of La Magia thus remains strongly linked to the “Barco Reale Mediceo”, officially established in 1626 by Ferdinando II, until 1645, when the villa was bought by the Attavanti family. In that year, the Villa and the farm were sold by Ferdinando II de ‘Medici to Pandolfo di Ottavio Attavanti, a member of a noble family from Castelfiorentino. The Attavantis made some important modifications starting with the construction of the monumental staircase leading to the reception rooms on the noble floor.

Several remarkable additions took also place at the turn of the XVII century and the beginning of the XVIII century, including the external chapel dedicated to Santa Verdiana, and the parterred garden aligned with the southern facade of the villa.

Those were the years when also the courtyard inside the villa was further embellished highlighting the columns that formerly supported the loggia overlooking the open space facing West.

The villa currently hosts concerts and temporary and permanent art exhibitions.

Text source: http://www.villalamagia.com/

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)