Special visits to the Apartments of the Duchess of Aosta at Pitti Palace
The rooms on the 2nd floor of the Pitti Palace open to the public
The Duchess's Apartment at Pitti Palace is open to the public every Sunday until 29 December 2024 at the following hours:
morning: 10.30 am; 11.30 am; 12.30 pm
afternoon: 2.30 pm; 3.30 pm; 4.30 pm
The meeting point for groups is in the Galleria delle Muse, on the second floor of Pitti Palace (via lift: the second room after arriving on the second floor; via stairs: the room on the right once you have reached the second floor).
Three groups are allowed in for each turn and each group (max. 20) is accompanied for approximately 45 minutes.
Historical notes
The luxurious Duchess's Apartment was built in the Medicean age, when Cosimo I de' Medici and Eleonora di Toledo purchased the palace to turn it into a Grand Ducal residence, and was later intended for Maria de' Medici, future queen of France and niece of Cosimo. In the mid-seventeenth century, these rooms became the residence of Ferdinando II de'Medici and Vittoria della Rovere. Then they hosted the extraordinary collection of manuscripts, mathematical instruments and works of art of Cardinal Leopoldo, who met here with the members of the Accademia del Cimento, founded by him in 1657. With the passage to the Habsburg-Lorraine family, from 1790 until the arrival of the Savoys, it took the name of "Winter Quarter": in this period, under the rule of Grand Duke Ferdinand III, the Apartment underwent the most important architectural interventions, which gave it the modern look that it still retains today.
The arrival of the Savoys determined the end of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the entire Quarter became the residence of the Kings of Italy (1865-1911). It was called "Apartment of His Majesty the King". The Savoys changed the furnishings and tapestries, giving the rooms the look with which they are currently on view. The ambiance that can still be glimpsed was due to the flair of Anne of France, widow of Duke Amedeo of Aosta, the last person to live in this apartment and the reason why it bears her name, "Apartment of the Duchess of Aosta".
