HISTORICAL Villa, located in Segromigno in Monte, dates back to around 1600 and among the many Villas in Lucca it is certainly one of the most representative of the culture and society of the ancient Aristocratic Republic.In the 16th century the historic Villa belonged to Nicolao Benedetti, as evidenced by a notarial deed from 1599. It was his heirs who sold it to Bartolomeo del late Hieronimus Cenami (ASL, Notaries Part I, Basilio Bondacca 15 April 1599). For 656 gold scudi he purchased "a lock of various types of fields, meadows and gardens, with a fruit garden, walled around the said lock with a palace for the owner to live in, stable, well, oven, and walled wash house, and his other reasons and appurtenances, located in the municipality of Segromigno, a place called in Piaggia".The residence belonged to the Cenami family until 1675, the year in which it was purchased for 1600 scudi by the marquis Raffaello Mansi, a family well known in Europe in the field of silk trading (ASL, Notaries II, Antonio Santini 24 May 1675) who chose the "beautiful closed with lands, surrounded by walls, adorned with various types of gardens, with different types of fruit and gardens, and groves, with several water departments, with a very beautiful fishpond and lakes adorned with statues, vases with lawns and small lawns, roads and avenues, with a beautiful house for the use of the owner, with courtyard, vine pergolas around it, with other buildings of beautiful houses for the use of servants, gardeners and gardeners, and other people, with garage for carriages, stables for horses, rooms for meals and games, with many comforts, with clock tower, with courtyards and courtyard and backrests and many other ornaments" (ASL, Mansi Archive, 42; Terrilogio dei beni di casa Mansi , from 1684), his favorite summer residence and that of subsequent generations.Villa is famous for the elegance of its architectural lines and the beauty of its gardens. The original building, built in the second half of the 16th century. it was largely transformed in the years 1634-1635 by the Urbino architect Muzio Oddi. Under the Mansi the façade underwent a renovation by the Lucchese architect Giusti and the transformation of the garden based on a design by Filippo Juvarra who was responsible for the lock works, the hydraulic arrangement and the tripartition of the garden itself. The trapezoid cut of the east garden and the stables department served Juvarra to set up the other two sectors of the lock, the large lawn area around and in front of the palace and the garden area to the west. Everything was thus distributed into 4 main sectors side by side, prospectively autonomous, alternately reversed and roughly shaped like an elongated trapezium.Among the numerous frescoes that decorate the interior of the Villa, those in the central hall are certainly the most interesting thanks to the work of the neoclassical painter Stefano Tofanelli, much appreciated by Elisa Baciocchi, princess of Lucca and sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. These paintings consist of the two large lateral canvases which show the deeds of Apollo (judgment of Midas and death of Marsyas) and the ceiling fresco depicting the Triumph of the Sun God.Villa, famous for the grace of its gardens and the elegance of its architectural lines, often hosted sovereigns and ambassadors from the most disparate European states, invited here by the Republic of Lucca for a pleasant stay.?