The Headquarters - Villa di Vico
The building in which the Foundation is based is located in a hilly area about a kilometer from the town of San Vincenzo a Torri, in the municipality of Scandicci, about 20 minutes south-
The central tower dates back to prior to the construction of the remaining parts of the building and features a typical 14th century architectural style. There vox populi he attributes this part of the building to the leader Castruccio Castracani who, according to legend, buried his treasure there. The tower was however part of a sighting, communication and transmission system of visual messages that made the Val di Pesa an important strategic and military outpost.
On the cards of the Capitani di Parte – maps of peoples and roads (tome 117, part 1a) – dating back to 1580, the building of Vico is marked, in which he resided, tenant of the noble Florentine merchant family of the Busini, certainly Pietro Barucci, as indicated precisely in these ancient maps. According to the arroti and the samples of Decima Granducali (until 1527) and Republicans (1480 ca.), the Busini family owned the property and its annexes at least since the second half of the fifteenth century. The previous owners of the Businis must have had some connection with the Medici family, given the large fireplace with the Medici coat of arms in the main room of the “Villa di Vico” [1].
The noble Florentine family of the da Cepperelli became the owner of the Villa di Vico in 1601 and remained there until 1644. The property of the da Cepperelli family is also shown in an ancient watercolor (dating from around 1640), which depicts the most important buildings in the area (ASF, Carte Galli Tassi, recently published in AA.VV., Il Mulinaccio, Ed. CentroLibro, Scandicci, 1996). For a certain period the da Cepperelli leased the “Palazzo di Vico” to “Pier Antonio de ‘Pazzi, with all his belongings” (cf. in ASF, Modern Notary Prot. 17439-
In 1644, following a divergence with the property of the Lami, bordering to the north, (divergence also documented in AA.VV., Il Mulinaccio, op. Cit., Pp. 21-
As can be deduced from a testamentary bequest of 1677 (see notary Vergelli in the aforementioned will), in addition to the Villa di Vico, the Galli family had purchased several properties in the area. This purchase was also reached following an important marriage of the progenitor of the Gauls, Agnolo di Lorenzo d’Agnolo Galli, a rich Florentine merchant and nobleman, who had married a Tassi at the beginning of the 1600s and had had the great Villa as a dowry. dei Lami, not far from the Villa di Vico. After having rearranged the Villa dei Lami, enlarging and renovating it, this ancestor of the Gauls had decided to expand his possessions in the area, buying houses, land and production infrastructures from neighboring owners.
From father to son, the Gauls pass on the ownership of the Villa di Vico: Giovan Matteo (son of Captain Carlo di Lorenzo d’Agnolo Galli) inherits “The Villa and the Palazzo named Vico” following the division of the inheritance made with the brother Lorenzo Galli, May 4, 1677 (Cf. ASF, arroto n. 59 of the year 1678, Decima Granducale Leon Rosso, QSMN, n. 2827). Giovan Matteo leaves the property to his sons Isidoro and Domenico (See ASF, Decima Granducale n. 2835, roll of year 1686, n. 11). From the Champions of Decima Granducale (year 1714, n. 3621, in the Leon Rosso banner of the Santa Maria Novella district –
From the Decima Granducale n. 5737 of the year 1776, arroto n.258, it is noted that in that period one of the three brothers, Matteo Galli, was co-owner for a third of the property named Villa di Vico and that, not having to pay any tithe, he resided there. From the tithe registrations of the Lorraine Cadastre (Cfr. ASF, decima n. 491, arroti of the year 1790, n. 14, 17 and 18) we obtain the status of the property in the year 1790 and it is assumed that the three heirs of the Galli, namely Matteo, Luigi and Giuseppe, were still co-owners of the property. From the last tithes of the Lorraine Cadastre (which covers the period 1776-
At the end of the Second World War (in the period in which the front was located in the Val di Pesa area), the building, given its proportions and its considerable robustness, was used as a military hospital for the German troops, while the tower was used as a lookout point, towards Cerbaia (area of operation of the Allied troops). For this dual function, the Villa was heavily bombed (the tower suffered the greatest damage, being beheaded several meters). After the war the Villa remained in a semi-
Description of the building
From the outside the building has a robust conformation, like formwork; on the North corner-