Villa Borbone delle Pianore

The Villa Borbone della Pianore is composed of three buidings, each one belonging to a different period. The north wing was built in 1964, the central body is dated to the end of the 18^th century, and the south wing originates from the end of the 19^th century.
The central body, which is the oldest part of the villa, is modest in its dimensions and is fruit of the restructuring of a mill. The Duchesse of Lucca, Maria Teresa di Savoia who was also the wife of Carlo Ludovico di Borbone converted it into a villa. A chapel was attatched to the building and many changes were made to it during the 1800's. Today, it has a curious neo-renaissance façade which was realised using a structure of painted wood with an architraved entrance, tympanum and a carved lunette which simulates the ceramics of Della Robbia. The structure was realised in 1893 on the occasion of the marriage of one of the Duke of Borbone's daughters. Inside there is a 17^th century wooden altar, originating from the chapel of the Villa della Rinchiostra belonging to the Cybo Malaspina family.
The south facing 19^th century building, is an impressive three floored structure which picks up on some architectural themes typical of the renaissance period. This is evident from its ashlars decoration, the curved tympanums above the windows and the plan of the building which has an indented central corpus. Its internal decoration is well preserved. There are caissons, damasks on the walls, stuccos and polychrome marbles.
The park, realised at the same time as the 19^th century building, is extremely interesting as its vegetation presents a mixture of autochthonous and exotic herbs. Among them can be found ginkgo biloba, varies types of palms, sequoia, the liriodendron, the Olea Fragrans, the Os Manthus Ilicifolius, the Macula, and the Maonia.