The 17th-century Villa Bardini (not to be confused with the separate Museo Stefano Bardini) overlooks the city of Florence with an amazing view thanks to its high position on the Oltrarno hill. The most interesting historic period of the complex dates back to the ownership of the collector Stefano Bardini, who purchased it and its garden in 1913.

Villa Bardini houses temporary exhibitions and cultural events, and a small museum dedicated to the artist Pietro Annigoni with a selection of works from various periods and of different techniques and subjects that belonged to the artist’s collection testimony his extensive and successful career in the last century. Exhibitions in recent years have celebrated photographers through monographic shows, including a series on female photographers, 20th-century artists like Galileo Chini, as well as themes such as the beloved Pinocchio.

The Garden of Villa Bardini was already significant before Bardini’s acquisition, consisting of an important Baroque stairway and terraces, and an incredible loggia with a view over the city (where now one can sit and have a drink at the bar). This was one of three main parts of the garden, the others being the English garden with exotic plants, representing a rare example of Anglo-Chinese garden and the agricultural park, with the orchard and marvellous wisteria pergola. This wisteria is a veritable tourist destination when it flowers in April every year.