Villa Grabau
The Villa Grabau in San Pancrazio, stands at the foot of the Lucchesi hills and is situated approximately seven kilometers north of Lucca. It was built on the ruins of a medieval village and fortress, discovered during archaelogical research, near the Romanesque Church "Pieve di San Pancrazio".
Probably built on a already existing building dating back to 1412, it belonged to the very powerful merchant Diodati family of Lucca from the beginning of the XVI century. During recent archealogical researches, it was discovered that in 1550, the villa assumed a Gothic Style of architecture, with mullioned windows on the first floor and a dovecot embattled tower. It is likely that at the end of the XVI century, it then assumed a Renaissance style, which is still visible today in the open gallery with three arcades held by columns in Tuscanic order and by "penducci", also Tuscanic, which now hold the vault of one of the drawing-rooms on the ground floor.
The Diodati's coat of arms, in grey stone of Matraia, still hangs on the northern facade of the Villa. It is interesting to note that a large part of the Diodati family, like many other Calvinist Lucchesian families at the time (such as the Turrettinis, the Burlamacchis, and the Calandrinis) agreed to the reformation and were forced to flee their country because of religious persecution. The majority of the families settled in Calvinist Geneva, where they are still today, and where there is still a villa of the Diodati family.
In 1653 Villa Grabau became the property of the Gualanduccis and then in 1670 was bought by the Count Orsetti. In 1806, was inherited by the Countess Chiara Orsetti married to the Marquis Ferrante Cittadella; it then passed to their nephew Enrico Cittadella in 1854.
With the final alterations done by the Cittadella family, the villa assumed a neo-classical style, simialr to the nearby Villa Reale of Marlia, after the intervention of Elisa Baciocchi, Napoleon's sister.
For more information please visit the site: www.villagrabau.it
The Villa
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On the ground floor, the first flight of the Main Staircase, made of Matraia stone, was moved from the central ball-room to the western side of the house, so as to create a separate entrance. Then the large open Arcade, to the south of the Villa, was closed with glass window frames and "Trompe l'oeil" curtains were painted decoratively on the walls, together with Frescoes representing dancing nymphs and geometrical designs; this gave the drawing-room a neo-classical appearance, and was called the "Hall of false curtains". The "Trompe l'oeil" paintings were executed with such realism that they have deceived many connoisseurs over the years.The only room which remains untouched from the 17th century with its original frescoes is the little Chapel on the ground floor.
In 1868 the Villa was purchased by the wealthy German banker Rodolfo Schwartze for his wife Carolina Grabau. Her father, Carlo Grabau, was born in Hamburg in 1784 of noble German extraction. He was then transferred in 1832 to Livorno by the Granduke of Tuscany and appointed to be General Consul for the Anseatic Cities of the Northern Sea. He then married Enrichetta Inghirami, from a noble patrician family of Volterra. The Schwartze family had no children, so Villa Grabau was passed down to Carolina's nephew, Marcello Grabau who later married the Countess Francesca Cenami Spada, a noble Patrician of Lucca, and had five children. The Villa then passed to their son Ludovico, and now belongs to his son and daughter, Federico and Francesca.
