Il Parco delle Meraviglie

Strategic assessment and feasibility plan for the valorization of Villa Demidoff in Pratolino (Florence)

Client: Istituzione Parco Mediceo di Pratolino
Scientific supervisor: Cinzia Parolini

The Medici Park of Pratolino is located a short distance from Florence at an altitude that allows the eye to sweep beyond the city and the Florentine plain to the surrounding hills. The park was commissioned by Francesco I de Medici for his wife (and controversial former lover) Bianca Cappello and was built between 1568 and 1598. In Francesco I's time, the park was called "the garden of wonders" because of the extraordinary system of caves, water features and automata that the prince wanted to create there.

The project was drawn up after conducting numerous documentary and field verifications: interviews; collection and study of historical contributions related to the formation and life of the park;analysis of the tourist offer of the Florentine province; evaluation of the structural characteristics of the park and the properties; and national and international benchmark analysis.

Three principles guided the analytical work:

  • the revitalization project should have respected the "vocations" that emerge from the park's history and intrinsic characteristics, in a modern key attentive to the needs of modern-day users.
  • the project should have maximized the complementarity between Pratolino and the current system of tourism offerings in the Province of Florence, avoiding duplication and seeking to identify the circuits in which Pratolino's new offerings could fit;
  • the project was to enhance local expertise and resources.

The Business Plan starts with a resource analysis, reconstructing the history of the park and illustrating its natural vocations, which are fundamental to the very understanding of the project's potential. It then briefly analyzes the current situation of the park and the context in which it is located, to introduce the detailed exposition of the "Park of Wonders" concept. It then concludes with a series of chapters devoted to various management aspects: pricing choices, communication policies, governance choices, and summary of economic and financial implications.