The Ferdinanda, like the other Medici villas, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2013. Arriving in the beautiful village of Artimino, a majestic spectacle opens up to the view: on the hill opposite the village - and connected to it by a scenic tree-lined avenue - the splendid villa stands in a panoramic position. Commissioned by the Grand Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici, it takes its name from him: La Ferdinanda. In local jargon it is called the Villa of a hundred chimneys, because there are so many chimneys on its roof! In fact, it seems that Ferdinand I suffered from gout, so he needed a lot of heat. The Grand Duke's architect, the Florentine Bernardo Buontalenti, had it built in just 4 years, from 1596 to 1600. It was born as a hunting lodge (the park of the villa, called Barco Reale, was the family's hunting lodge) and then became also a place dedicated to the arts and humanistic otium.

The building has a rectangular plan, the facade is characterized by bastions that suggest the image of a fortress and by the staircase leading to the first floor, built in 1930 by the architect Enrico Lusini, based on a sketch by Buontalenti. The military aspect disappears in the loggia and in the interiors, where the halls were richly frescoed by Domenico Cresti, known as Passignano, and by Bernardo Poccetti. On the ground floor there are the cellars and the armory rooms. Next to the villa, the elegant structure of the Paggeria Medicea today houses a hotel.

Over the centuries the villa has hosted illustrious people, such as Galileo Galilei, who was called to act as tutor to Cosimo, the Grand Duke's son. Leonardo da Vinci also frequented the Medici property; proof is the presence, in the ancient kitchen of the grand ducal cellars, of the roasting-spit built to his design.

The villa, a coveted location for events and ceremonies, can be visited upon reservation.