Villa Corsi-Salviati

The University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin and Duke University lease the Villa Corsi-Salviati in Sesto-Florentino. The Villa is home to Florence based study-abroad programs from all three institutions. The Villa and its owners have been part of Florentine culture and history since the 16th C.

From the street, the Villa appears to be an unremarkable, sand colored, high wall. Just inside the wall, one faces the villa across a large interior courtyard. To the right is the dining hall and to the left are the gardens. Coats-of-arms associated with the current owners hang on the walls of the dining hall. Several of them show the Medici coat-of-arms, indicating a marriage relationship.
The arched gate at the lower left leads directly into the formal gardens that surround the Villa. In the early 1900’s, these gardens were restored and are now very much as they were in the 1700’s.

Inside the Villa are the living quarters for the students and faculty in residence. Some of the original living quarters on the first floor have been transformed into classrooms. There is a large auditorium and since many of the Villa programs are about music, it is frequently used as a performance hall. The walls of this room are covered with beautiful frescos, visible in some of the interior pictures.

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