Toscana & Chianti News

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Spend mid-August sorrounded by cedars and nymphs

Looking for an August bank holiday that's a bit different? There's no shortage of ideas, from a day at the seaside, hiking or horse riding, but what about an evening at one of the loveliest villas in Vaiano? Actually, in the villa that is famous for being the place where "the greatest party in the area was held with food and dancing".

On the hottest night of the year visit Villa del Mulinaccio and its romantic parkland, adorned with the tallest trees, and the beautiful garden with the fountain where you can see the Caldana mountains and dine on fruit and ice-cream accompanied by music in the "nymph garden".

The evening is organized entirely for charity projects focusing on solidarity and cultural exchanges.

On a summer's night you can explore these lovely places instilled with history.

Here in the garden you can take a look at the tree cedars planted by Giuseppe Vaj in 1872 - Lebanon, Atlas and Himalaya - the Renaissance-style Ragnaia thicket and the eighteenth-century walled garden with nymph, adorned with the characteristic Savignano "spongy" rocks. The villa also holds its own secrets.

The building was erected by Cosimo Sassetti between the late fifteenth and the early sixteenth century, but it almost immediately passed into the hands of the Strozzi family and remained that way until 1661.

At the end of the century, Villa del Mulinaccio became the property of the Vaj family and, above all, "the fervour of many holdings".

Among the sixteenth- and eighteenth-century influences you can explore the magnificent rooms, including the one dedicated to Filippo Sassetti, a traveller in the East Indies, son of Cosimo Sassetti, who built the property. The room contains all of Filippo's writings and maps.

There is also the Land Agent's Desk, on the distinctive "mezzanine" floor, where many of the rural registries are still kept as well as the documents that bear witness to the life of this incredible Tuscan farm.

Enjoy a different sort of August holiday surrounded by cedars and nymphs.