Castello di Verrazzano

Castello di Verrazzano stands among the vineyards between Florence and Siena. The estate is associated with the Verrazzano family and the navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano, whose 1524 voyage for France entered the bay of present-day New York.

Why it matters

Vineyards and olive groves at the site are recorded in a twelfth-century manuscript of the abbey of Passignano. The castle belonged to the Verrazzano family and is associated with Giovanni da Verrazzano’s birth in 1485. After the last of the family died in 1819, the property passed to the Marchesi Ridolfi. The Cappellini family acquired the declining estate in 1958, restored the castle and replanted the vineyards.

What to notice

The castle’s present towered profile reflects nineteenth-century restoration of an older defensive complex. The Italian garden frames views across the Val di Greve. Medieval masonry survives in the lower structures, while the residential parts and hillside cellars reflect the estate’s later agricultural use. The estate cultivates vineyards and produces Chianti Classico.

Context and history

Records of agriculture at the site date at least to the twelfth century. Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed for France in 1524, entering the bay of present-day New York; the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge between Brooklyn and Staten Island has borne his name since 1964. After the family line ended in 1819, ownership passed to the Ridolfi marquises. The Cappellini family’s 1958 acquisition began the modern restoration and replanting of the estate.