Villa Garzoni Garden and Butterfly House Entrance Ticket

Visit: Storico Giardino Garzoni - Casa delle Farfalle, Via Della Vittoria 1, 51014 Collodi, Pescia Italy

The Garzoni Garden forms a single complex with the Villa (currently undergoing restoration and closed to the public) which stands beside it and partially overlooks it. In ancient times, it was a fortress guarding the village of Castello, then it became the country home of the Garzoni nobles, and finally a luxurious villa and monumental garden, intended as a status symbol to reflect their economic and political power and cultural superiority. The steep hill, which seemed an obstacle to the creation of a large, prestigious garden, became an amazing setting of greenery and water, while the large house was also being transformed into a grand and luxurious villa, with the cool Summer Building and chapel concealed behind it. The place has welcomed illustrious guests: Napoleon Bonaparte, whose sister Elisa Baciocchi governed Lucca in the early 19th century, King Victor Emmanuel III in around 1910 and the Ambassador of the United States in the 1920s. Carlo Lorenzini/Collodi’s mother, Angiolina Orzali, worked in the Villa as a girl and met her future husband, Domenico Lorenzini, here. You can discover some of the famous visitors in the Historical, Artistic and Environmental Documentation Centre.