Brief history
The current layout dates back to the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the villa was home to the wealthy and influential Salviati family. Successive generations of Salviati were residents at the villa between 1490 and 1794. Over the centuries, it housed great art and great people, from the infamous Medici to Pope Leo X and Garibaldi. It was plundered and burned during the Medici banishment and carefully renovated, generation after generation, to keep up with the fashions of house and garden.
After the Salviati era, the villa experienced a notable era as a political hub for supporters of the Risorgimento. However, from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, it changed hands many times. Apart from a brief spell during WWII when the building gave shelter to local Florentines and a great deal of valuable artwork, Villa Salviati was neglected and largely inaccessible to the public.
In 2000, the Italian state purchased the villa to house the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU). Today the immaculately restored building and gardens are also home to the European University Institute’s Law and History Departments and the Academy of European Law.