Villa Oliva

In his will of 1539, Alessandro Buonvisi left all his assets to his son Lodovico, except for the Villa of San Pancrazio, which he reserved for his wife. The villa likely dates back to the previous century and is perhaps attributable to the brilliant hand of Matteo Civitali, a Renaissance genius and explorer of the delicate, harmonious relationships of architecture. Perched on a slight slope, the building and its surrounding space are a balanced interplay of planes, chiaroscuro, perspectives, and volumes.

The south facade of Villa Oliva, in neoclassical style, and its garden. At the center of the villa's facade is an entrance portal surmounted by a small terrace. In the foreground is a fountain with a statue of a cherub and an English lawn with boxwood bushes and flowers.

A Renaissance-inspired design with a Florentine and Mannerist influence, Villa Oliva's complex and unique design, unique in the Lucca landscape, is characterized by its interplay of volumes and the intersections of different levels. The building's architecture and the surrounding spaces are characterized by its interplay of volumes and the interplay of different levels. The restrained valley-facing façade contrasts with the wide, double-volume portico, opened by a tall colonnade.

The garden's distinctive features include a grand staircase protected by a hornbeam canopy; a cypress-lined avenue; a "green room" planted with yew, box, and laurel; and a belvedere covered by a yew canopy that opens evocatively onto the garden below, the rolling hills, and the city beyond. The dual slope of the land, rising to the north and east, is addressed with terraces, low walls, grassy knolls, and low box hedges, continually arousing surprise.

Terracotta statues populate this intricate garden: Diana seated, with her faithful dog and the barn owl in the spiderweb; the "Pitocco" seated on a low wall and other fantastical creatures arranged in fake grottoes and fountains; a Siren beneath the Buonvisi coat of arms among caryatids and grinning satyrs; a putto accompanied by fantastical horses and other winged cherubs with fishtails; and the 19th-century statue of Abundance.