Il Corno
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Continuing along the road to San Pancrazio you reach Villa Il Corno,with its crenellated tower from the old castle. In 1523 it was bought by Monna Selvaggia, the widow of Filippo Strozzi. At the time the Strozzi began a shrewd policy of land acquisition of the surrounding area, creating a vast estate, and started renovation on the villa. The work continued into the following century. Documents attest that Gherardo Silvani, a fashionable architect in 17th century Florence, was involved in the renovation, and made several visits to Il Corno between 1645 and 1651. His exact contribution to the villa, however, is unknown. The facade was decorated in a later period with monumental pilaster strips and cornicing.
Between 1835 and 1840 a garden was created in place of the kitchen garden, where a few years earlier Etruscan vases and urns had been found. In 1911 the Strozzi sold Il Corno to its present owners, the Counts Frova. Various restorations have brought the villa back to its original 17tn century layout. Moreover, the Frova family have pursued the modernization of the farm and of its agricultural techniques. They have, for example, selected a variety of olive tree called “Leccino del Corno” and of the vine “Colorino”. Il Corno was once renowned for rearing live-stock. Il Cornuzzo, a farmhouse near the villa, was at one time the bovine stud-farm, as inscribed on its facade. The estate is also an Agriturismo, letting rooms and holiday apartments, offering its guests cookery courses and the chance to taste and buy the farm’s produce. There is a hunting reserve, so guests can chase the game right into the restaurant! Address: Via Malafrasca, 64 San Casciano Val di Pesa Phone +39 055 824851 Email: ilcorno@tenutailcorno.com Website: www.tenutailcorno.com
Before the entrance to Villa Il Corno, a short road to the right leads to Il Palagio, an old property of the Gianfigliazzi which passed by way of marriage to the Gondi, and later to the Strozzi. It has a chapel dedicated to Saint Peter of Alcantara, a graceful 18th century building decorated with the Gianfigliazzi coat-of-arms. The interior is frescoed with the Stories from the Life of the Saint by the Maestro Perini.
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