The Francesco de’ Medici Apartment
Originally, in the 14th century, part of the Palazzo, nowadays the Francesco de’ Medici apartment, was a market space open to the street where the family in residence sold the goods they produced. Now, this beautiful apartment on the ground floor is 54 m² (581ft²) big and offers easy access for the disabled. It has a spacious living area and dining room with a well-equipped kitchen, a king sized bed (or two single beds by request) and a comfortable Italian sofa bed (which can accommodate 2 people).
The Francesco De’Medici apartment is perfect for single travelers, those who use wheelchairs or prefer to avoid stairs, and couples with young children. It has a fully equipped kitchenette, a laundry and hanger, a queen bed (or 2 singles upon request), towels and bath amenities.
The large bathroom offers a folding shower seat option for disabled needs: it’s the only apartment which has one!
The couch in the living area is also a comfortable queen sofa bed. The space boasts a single large arched window that reaches from floor to ceiling, two big windows which let abundant light in and a beautiful red with giglio fiorentino motifs curtain which obscure the entire apartment for a pleased and silent night. The rate for the apartment is for 2 guests at night – in case of use of the sofa bed there is an extra fee.
In Francesco de’ Medici you’ll find:
Accessible Apartment with easy to fold and use ramp
An iron
A laundry bag
A hair dryer
A caffettiera or moka
TV HD LCD
Double sofa bed with bedding furniture in the closet
One bathrooms with shower amenities and towels and disables access
4 baskets with labels for recycling garbage
A first emergency kit
Who is Francesco de’ Medici?
Francesco de’ Medici became the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1574. After the death of his first wife, Francesco married Bianca Cappello who was always hidden from the court and from Francesco’s brother, Cardinal Ferdinando I de ‘Medici, so much so that the sudden death of the couple made one think for a long time of poisoning ordered by the cardinal himself. Francesco was not very interested in politics and preferred to leave the fate of the Grand Duchy in the hands of the numerous officials whom he trusted blindly. Like his ancestors, Francesco I de’ Medici was an important patron and passionate of alchemy and Chinese porcelain. Under the patronage of Francesco I de’ Medici, around 1575, the first glass paste porcelain work ever made in the West-World came to life, the so-called “Porcellana dei Medici”.
