Villa Bellavista, Buggiano

Francesco Feroni (1614–1696) was a merchant from Livorno, who was sent to Amsterdam as a trader and agent for the Florentine senator Lorenzo Buonaccorsi.

By 1652 he became an agent for the Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand-Duke of Tuscany, mediating trade with the English and the Dutch.

In 1662, he greatly enriched himself while playing a role for Tuscany in facilitating slave trading between the Protestant countries and Spanish American colonies.

The interior was extesnsively frescoed by Pier Dandini, depicting scenes that evoke the defense of the Catholic faith.

Over the past two centuries, the villa has had a number of owners and it no longer contains the original furniture or art collections obtained by the Feronis.