San Giuliano Terme | Arena Metato, Villa Medicea

The village consists of the inhabited hamlets of Arena and Metato, formerly the site of a castle on the border between the Republics of Pisa and Lucca. The village is attested as a Longobard possession as early as the 8th century. Three centuries later, it was even among the properties of the monks of the Abbey of Sant’Antimo in Val d’Orcia.

It is worth visiting the Medici Villa dell’Ammiraglio, with its rectangular layout, built in the mid-16th century by Giulio de’ Medici, First Knight of the Order of the Knights of St. Stephen, and First Admiral of the Medici and Stephanian fleet. The two-storey villa with vast cellars and two turrets is surrounded by approximately one hectare of parkland with centuries-old trees. The interior features an entrance hall of about 130 square metres adorned with a stone fireplace. Today protected by the Fine Arts of Pisa, it has a façade facing south-west, preceded by a grove of centuries-old pine trees. The numerous windows are adorned with pilaster strips in typical Florentine style, framed by pietra serena, with a large, perfectly preserved Medici coat of arms in Carrara marble, just above the main front door.