Many imagine indoor spaces when thinking of a
vacation in Florence: museums, boutiques, palaces, churches, restaurants, cafes, bars, and more. However, if you have found a
villa in Florence and are spending some time exploring the birthplace of the Renaissance and the capital of Tuscany, you will quickly find that the outdoor space of
Florence are equally captivating and impressive. The palaces that are dotted throughout the city often still have beautiful and historic gardens that can be visited, piazzas are lined with cafes for coffee-sipping and people watching and house lively markets at certain days and times of the week, the ancient streets are full of things to see with architectural and artistic gems framing your vision as you walk about, and there are endless parks, walks, and more to be explored. One of the most beautiful of all of these outdoor spaces in Florence, however, has to be the Parco delle Cascine, or
Cascine Park.
Cascine Park is located along the north bank of the Arno and stretches from the centre of the city to where the Mugnon and Arno meet. Stretching over a whopping 160 hectares (or 395 acres), the park dates back to 1563, when
Cosimo I de' Medici created the space as a farming and hunting estate for the ruling Medici family. In fact, the name of the park itself comes from the old Italian work, “cascio,” which means bovine livestock from which the production of butter and cheese is intended.