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The Villa di Piazzano is classified as an historical residence (Residenza d’Epoca). It was built in the early 1500s by Cardinal Silvio Passerini, a protegè of the Medici’s, to serve as his hunting manor.  There is evidence, however, of an earlier building on the site dating back to 1464. At one time the property extended for 360 hectares up to the top of the hills which separate Piazzano from Lake Trasimeno.  Today hunting of wild boar, pheasant and other animals still takes place in the surrounding hills during the hunting season.
The hills, which now serve as a beautiful backdrop to the Villa di Piazzano, and where Cardinal Passerini and his entourage once hunted the elusive wild boar, are also of historical importance.  It was in these same hills that, many centuries earlier, the Carthaginian general, Hannibal, defeated the Roman army in the bloody Battle of Trasimeno.

In fact, the Carthaginians ambushed the Roman army at a place now known as Sanguineto (bloodshed) and it is thought that the Roman army had set up its campsite in Piazzano which was its “piazza d’armi”. Today Sanguineto is a tourist site and many events of the battle are recorded along a well marked route.

After the mysterious death of Cardinal Passerini in 1529, the Villa remained property of the Passerini family and later became a convent. The bell tower of the old convent is still visible on the roof and the bell itself carries the coat of arms of the Medici’s. A careful eye will pick up many interesting details of this Renaissance palazzo leading one back to the times of the powerful Medici Family.

After a careful restoration of the main Villa and its many adjacent buildings, the property was brought back to life and opened to the public in 2001 as a refined refuge for the more discerning travellers.

Villa di Piazzano

Historical Residence (1464 A.D.)

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