Villa Castelletti in Signa

Villa Castelletti is located on a small hill along the road leading to Lecore, near the Ombrone stream. In an extremely scenic spot, on a northern ridge of the Signa hill, the shape of the villa overlooks the whole countryside between Prato and Pistoia.

The origin of the building dates back probably to the early 15th century. Maybe built under the possession of the Strozzi family, the villa passed then to the Lapi family, and later to the Ugoccioni and Cavalcanti families. With the extinction of this family, direct branch of the poet Guido, companion of Dante, the property passed, in the 18th century, to the Cattani-Cavalcanti. The Cavalcanti family enlarged the structure of the Villa with two additional side buildings, added to the main building while a turret used as a belvedere was built in the central part of the roof. In the first decades of the 19th century Count Leopoldo Cattani Cavalcanti transformed the villa and its farm into a model estate. Member of the Accademia dei Georgofili and member of Parliament, he was the founder of the Istituto Agrario di Castelletti: a modern school that was able to combine the value of social advancement with work and culture. Farmers for the most important agricultural holdings in Tuscany have come out of this institute, originally reserved to “orphan farmers”.

At the end of the 19th century the Counts of Montagliari settled in the villa, creating the Meyer hospital of Florence. The property then passed to the Cabrini, the Croff and lastly to the Allegri family that turned it into an important hospitality centre for congresses and receptions. An accommodation facility has been created inside the ancient 15th-century hamlet. Also noteworthy is the monumental park with its essences and its lake.