Tenuta Maria Teresa
via della Pieve Santo Stefano 3427/a, Loc San Martino in Vignale, 55100 Lucca
Tenuta Maria Teresa owes its name to the homonymous nineteenth-century villa, historic home of the Duchess of Lucca, Maria Teresa of Savoy, wife of Carlo Lodovico di Borbone. The villa and the estate are located on the hill of San Martino in Vignale, in the beautiful scenery of olive groves, vineyards and woods from where you can admire a 360° panorama, which includes the plain of Lucca with the river Serchio, the Pisani mountains and the Valfreddana, in a frame of hills where nature is the predominant element. Maria Teresa of Savoy, daughter of Vittorio Emanuele I, was born in 1803 and married in 1820 Carlo Lodovico di Borbone, who will be Duke of Lucca from 1824\. Nature lover and deeply religious, Maria Teresa chooses S. Martino in Vignale as the place for the construction of a country villa where she will spend serene and quiet days, which will be the home of most of her last years. The design is entrusted to Lorenzo Nottolini, architect of the Royal House.
The entrance to the garden consists of two barracks, one was the real house of guard, while the other, much more developed in length, was occupied by stables. Today the guard house has been incorporated into the Tenuta Maria Teresa farm and houses the grain storage, while the stables have been transformed into a reception room for banquets and tastings of company products.
As soon as we cross the harsh white gate, we are greeted by real giants: three cedars from Lebanon and a century-old holm oak show all their magnificence, giving those who walk in the garden a bit of refreshment in the cool of their large arms. These are plants registered in the Register of Monumental Trees. To keep them company, we find gerani, jasmine, lavender, agapanthus, aspidtre and a magnificent magnolia with white flowers, as well as bushland and fragrant laurel hedges.
This riot of plants and flowers frames Villa Maria Teresa, the so-called "Villa with a hundred windows", clearly visible from much of the valley below. The building is sober and well proportioned and bears the signs of those who inhabited it: looking up towards the roof, you can see the cross of the Savoia, family of Maria Teresa, and the lily of the Bourbon-Parma, the family of her husband, who, however, never lived in the villa. In several points of the garden and the villa, moreover, appears the motto of the house of Savoy: FERT (Fortitudo Eius Rhodum Tenuit).
Pushing us towards the bottom of the garden we cannot avoid being enchanted by the sober red rose garden, which shows its full splendor in the months of May, July and September. On closer inspection, the ordered hedges, the white paths and the intense color of the flowers form the Sabauda cross, which once again reminds us of the family of origin of Maria Theresa. Once you admire the splendid roses, we just have to look up and it is at this point that we understand why Maria Teresa built her villa right here: a breathtaking view that, with a single glance allows us to embrace the entire plain of Lucca and most of the territory that at the time constituted its Duchy. Just below we see the gentle hills of Lucca, then further in the distance, from left to right we find the mountains that mark the beginning of the Mediavalley and Garfagnana, follow the hills of Montecarlo, the Plain of Lucca with a clear view of the entire historic center surrounded by treed walls, Monte Serra, the Pisani mountains, on which you can still see towers and fortresses that remind us of the times when Pisa wanted to conquer Lucca and, finally, at the far right, we find Ponte S. Pietro and then the hills of Pieve S. Stefano, just a couple of kilometers away.
Still a few steps around the villa and we are in the garden of white and pink roses, with the beautiful maritime pine, green hydrangeas, gardenias and the hedge of oranges and tangerines, which are not so usual in our province. The view is still that: the beautiful valley of the river Serchio, with its jewel nestled between the red walls.
If we still want to observe, under the villa there is a beautiful vineyard of Merlot grapes, which in September will give us its fruits and many olive trees, which with their oil have made Lucca famous all over the world.
Tenuta Maria Teresa has its roots in the history of Lucca, but it does not rest sleepily to enjoy the sun that kisses the Lucchesi Hills: it hosts, in fact, a productive and vital farm! Here we produce wine, oil, honey and pasta, as well as baked goods, respecting strict organic regulations and ensuring a very short supply chain. If you want to experience the feeling of peace and tranquility that Maria Teresa of Savoy was able to find here, all that remains is to book a stay in one of the three farmhouses built in the ancient farmhouses: an experience in contact with nature and history that will leave you excited!
Access
The estate is accessed exclusively by own means and has a convenient parking
Tenuta maria Teresa s.r.l.
