A portion of the outer walls surrounding the Medici Villa grounds in Poggio a Caiano collapsed yesterday evening, March 6, around 8.30pm. About 30 meters of the wall fell into via Lorenzo il Magnifico after a heavy rainfall undermined its foundations. Several cars parked next to the wall were buried under bricks and earth, but they were fortunately empty. Initial fears that someone might have been trapped under the rubble were quelled after rescue authorities worked through the night to clean up the debris.
Traffic around this area of the Villa has been temporarily closed as surveys to ensure that the remaining walls are not at risk continue.
The Medici Villa in Poggio a Caiano was commissioned by Lorenzo the Magnificent in the 1480s as a holiday residence for the Florentine family. The property passed to the Italian state in 1919 and has been a museum since 1984. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013, as part of a collective entry including eleven other Medici villas and two gardens spread throughout Tuscany.
