Only one mile from Porta Romana, a historical gate into Florence center, this typical Florentine villa is situated on the hill of 'Poggio Imperiale' in the heart of the Tuscan countryside, surrounded by olive groves, gardens and fruit trees. A long avenue of grand cypresses leads from the iron gate to the staircase of the villa's main entrance. Behind the cypresses there is ample parking for guests. The garden looks out onto the beautiful Fiorentine hillside as well as Villa del Poggio Imperiale - from 1737 to 1860 residence of the 'Lorena' family, the Austrian Granddukes of Tuscany - and the Arcetri observatory where Galileo Galilei continued his astronomical research after being called to Florence in 1610 by Cosimo II dei Medici. The Villa dates back to the XVith century.