Villa Reale di Marlia, Province of Lucca

Villa Reale di Marlia
17th century Villa Reale di Marlia from 19th century English landscape park Laghetto.
General information
Architectural style	Italian Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical
Town or city	Capannori, Province of Lucca, Tuscany
Country	Italy
Coordinates	43°53′47″N 10°32′55″E / 43.8964°N 10.5485°E / 43.8964; 10.5485
Construction started	15th-century
Completed	19th-century

The Villa Marlia or Villa Reale di Marlia — a late-renaissance palazzo or villa, and its estate's property that includes renowned gardens and adjacent villas and follies within the compound. It is located in Capannori, in the Province of Lucca, west of Florence, in the northern Tuscany region of Italy.

The 15th century Italian Renaissance villa was in the Buonvisi family from 1517 to 1651, left relatively unchanged. In the 17th century the Palazzina dell’Orologio, with dominant clock tower, was constructed. The gardens were created in the second half of the 17th century, in the Giardino all'italiana style, influenced by Italian Renaissance gardens and Baroque gardens.

In 1806 the sister of Napoleon, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi Princesse Française, purchased the entire complex. She acquired the adjacent Villa del Vescovo with its sixteenth-century Italian Renaissance garden and grotto, and other bordering properties, which doubled the estate's size.

Reale (royal) joined the property's name, to become Villa Reale di Marlia, or locally Villa Reale. The property had become an official royal residence to serve her upon becoming the Duchess of Lucca and Princess of Piombino, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Countess of Compignano — with the power as the monarch to rule over these Tuscan territories granted by Napoleon.

In 1811 Elisa Bonaparte had the villa renovated in the Neoclassical style, and the Neoclassical pair of palazzine gatehouses and entrance elements were built. From the Villa del Vescovo gardens the elaborate nymphaeum pavilion, Grotta del Dio Pan or Pan’s Grotto, was left in Baroque splendor.