The Villa of Vignamaggio, surrounded by an elegant Italian garden in a stunningly beautiful corner of the Chianti countryside, offers an authentic testimony of country life during the Renaissance period. The main part of the villa dates back to the 14th century.
The Gherardi family who bought the villa from the Gherardini at the end of the 16th century, were responsible for its present appearance. Mona Lisa, the daughter of Anton Maria Gherardini, was born at Vignamaggio in 1479. The Gherardini were a noble family in Tuscany, probably of Etruscan or Roman origin.
The estate was bought in 1925 by Contessa Elena Samminiatelli, whose family restored the Italian gardens and the villa.
Since 1988 Mr. Gianni Nunziante the new owner has undertaken an extensive renovation of the buildings, the gardens, the vineyards and the wine cellars. Research carried out at the Datini archives in Prato has brought to light a number of documents relating to Vignamaggio. One of these, in particular, dated 26 October 1404, consists of a letter to Francesco Datini signed by Amido Gherardini, at that time the owner of the estate, which talks about “vino inbotato a Vignamag(i)o” (literally “wine placed in barrels at Vignamaggio”). For this reason, in 2004 the estate celebrated six hundred years of winemaking.
Our 3 night Florence & Chianti Experience includes a tour of the cellars followed by an exquisite typical Tuscan 3 course Lunch which takes place on the terrace of Vignamaggio – the view from which is what you can see in the background of the painting of Mona Lisa.
We offer flights to Florence or Pisa from the UK and the USA.
