Why this ride
94 km from Quarrata to Quarrata, about 2 h 06 of riding. It goes by way of Villa de Cerreto Guidi, Villa de Artimino and back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Villa La Magia and Villa de Artimino
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 94 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 06
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Villa La Magia
The Medici loved the countryside, especially when it came with hunting grounds, and Villa La Magia at Quarrata was one of their country retreats at the foot of the Montalbano hills, a few kilometres south of Pistoia. Francesco I de' Medici bought it in the sixteenth century to use as a hunting lodge, and it belongs to the World Heritage inscription for the Medici villas and gardens of Tuscany. The villa is a solid rectangular building around a courtyard, more farmhouse than palace, with a park that has become home to contemporary art installations, a rather unexpected touch for a Renaissance hunting lodge.
Read the complete Villa La Magia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Villa La Magia is where the day begins. Next is Villa de Cerreto Guidi.
2. Villa de Cerreto Guidi
Cosimo I de' Medici liked to hunt, and in the 1560s he had a villa built on a hilltop at Cerreto Guidi, on the edge of the marshes and woods west of Florence, where the game was plentiful. From the outside it is austere, a solid block of stone facing a square, but the approach is spectacular: a pair of great brick ramps, known as the Medici bridges, zigzag up to the entrance. The villa is part of the UNESCO listing of the Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany, and it holds a dark legend. Cosimo's daughter Isabella died here in 1576, and the story goes that she was murdered by her husband, Paolo Giordano Orsini, for her alleged infidelity. Whether it is true or not, it is told to every visitor.
Read the complete Villa de Cerreto Guidi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Villa de Cerreto Guidi comes up 18 km in. Next is Villa de Artimino.
3. Villa de Artimino
The Medici liked to hunt, and Ferdinando I wanted somewhere to do it. In the late sixteenth century the grand duke commissioned the architect Bernardo Buontalenti to build him a hunting lodge on the hill of Artimino, west of Florence, and the result was a large, plain and strangely beautiful villa with a loggia, a terrace and a forest of chimneys. It is nicknamed the villa of the hundred chimneys, though there are fewer than that, and the stacks along the roofline give the building a rhythm that you can recognise from a long way off. It is one of the Medici villas and gardens that UNESCO listed in 2013 for the way they shaped the Italian idea of a country house.
Read the complete Villa de Artimino write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
36 km in you reach Villa de Artimino. Next is back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi.
4. back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Villa de Cerreto Guidi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi, late in the day. Next is Villa La Magia.
5. Villa La Magia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Villa La Magia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Villa La Magia. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Villa La Magia to Villa de Cerreto Guidi
Villa La Magia → Villa de Cerreto Guidi is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Villa de Cerreto Guidi to Villa de Artimino
Villa de Cerreto Guidi → Villa de Artimino is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Villa de Artimino to back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi
Villa de Artimino → back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi to Villa La Magia
back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi → Villa La Magia is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.