The Belmond Villa San Michele is a hotel situated on the hill of Fiesole overlooking Florence, Italy.

[1] The land on which it stood had been donated by a Florentine family, the Davanzatis, who also contributed to the monastery's upkeep by gifts of woodlands, further buildings and money.

[2] The present building, with its façade attributed to Michelangelo and its imposing loggia,[3] dates from 1600 when it was enlarged and completely renovated by Giovanni di Bartolomeo Davanzati.

The monastery remained the property of the Franciscans until 1808 when the monastic orders were dissolved by Napoleon and, in 1817, it returned to secular use.

[4] In 1900 the Villa was acquired by Henry W. Cannon, a New York City bank president,[5] who landscaped the gardens, erected large greenhouses and restored the building after the fashion of the Victorians, by adding wrought iron gates and by applying a rust-coloured patina to the walls.