Thus arose the villa, the country-house of the well-to-
do citizen. This precious inheritance of the old Roman world was thus
revived, as soon as the wealth and culture of the people were
sufficiently advanced.
Pandolfini finds at his villa a peace and happiness, for an account of
which the reader must hear him speak himself. The economical side of
the matter is that one and the same property must, if possible, contain
everything- corn, wine, oil, pastureland and woods, and that in such
cases the property was paid for well, since nothing needed then to be
got from the market. But the higher enjoyment derived from the villa is
shown by some words of the introduction: 'Round about Florence lie many
villas in a transparent atmosphere, amid cheerful scenery, and with a
splendid view; there is little fog and no injurious winds; all is good,
and the water pure and healthy. Of the numerous buildings many are like
palaces, many like castles costly and beautiful to behold.' He is
speaking of those unrivalled villas, of which the greater number were
sacrificed, though vainly, by the Florentines themselves in the defence
of their city in 1529.
In these villas, as in those on the Brenta, on the Lombard hills, at
Posilippo and on the Vomero, social life assumes a freer and more rural
character than in the palaces within the city.
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