Villa Sonnino, built during the sixteenth Century, hosts the Castelvecchio Restaurant; it is situated up the slope of a hill in the heart of Tuscany halfway between Pisa and Florence in San Miniato.

The eye of the attentive observer will sense the presence of a the recently restored church on the hill near a little town which it dominates Cigoli.

Immediately below you will find a long avenue of cypresses, climbing is lost in a thicket far more widely than green in which we can glimpse the outline of a building: this is Villa Sonnino.

History

Illustrious families have owned the Villa: Grifoni family, originally from San Miniato and loyal ally of Medici family, had purchased the building in 1600.

Then in 1880 the Villa went to Sonninos, a Jewish family entered in the golden age of Italian nobility. His Majesty the King of Italy Umberto I granted to this family the title of Baron. Born in Pisa in 1847, Giorgio Sidney Sonnino got hold of the building. He was a politician and Member of Italian Parliment; from 1880 to 1919 he was Finance Minister in two Crispi cabinets,able to remedy the budget thanks to a brave and austere fiscal policy.The Villa has belonged to Sonnino family until 1946.

Notable artists have worked at this villa including: Antonio Ferri (Florentine architect) and Carlo Marcellini (Florentine artist of the late Baroque culture).

The site buildings

Several hotel buildings :

• the Hotel
• the main Restaturant
• The kitchen, a part of our structure (designed and made by Zanussi Grandi Impianti), spreads over 3 floors and is accessible by two modern lifts.

The kitchen, a part of our structure (designed and made by Zanussi Grandi Impianti), spreads over 3 floors and is accessible by two modern lifts.