The Castle of Uzzano rises on the summit of a hill which dominates the Greve valley. Arising on the site of an ancient Roman and Etruscan settlement successive traces of its existence are datable to the year one thousand. Very little remains of the original plan of the castle. Sections of the ancient walls can be seen, while the rest of the edifice was incorporated in the new building constructed in the 15th. century using the drawings of Andrea di Cione, better known as Orcagna. Nevertheless it is difficult to determine the appearance of the castle in the project of Orcagna for the fact that in the 1600s and more markedly in the 1800s the castle of Uzzano was transformed into the most airy and splendid villa in the Chianti area.
The commission has included the planning and execution of the project, the directing of the works of reconstruction and restoration, the co-ordination of the technical and structural projects and the installations. Assistance has also been supplied for the technical and administrative tests and accountancing. Successively the commission has been extended to include the realization of a plan for the recovery of the buildings appertaining to the Estate of the Castle of Uzzano.
The works have concerned the systemization of the whole structure, the restoration of the façades, of the coverings and of the external staircases, of the reconstruction of the annexes (approximately 1600 square metres). Furthermore the garden in the italianate style and the park surrounding the villa have been recovered with the restoration of various statues of mythological themes in marble and terracotta. Successively the restoration of parts of the castle for residential purposes has been inaugurated, with the relative adaptation of the installations and the construction of a swimming- pool to the south of the garden. The method applied implied the removal of all the existing plastering, revealing the mural texture of the surfaces in such a way that all of the possible superfluous additions were eliminated and the areas were restored as far as possible to their original state bringing to light ancient apertures, arches in pietra serena stone, and even the medieval window embrasures for observation.
The restoration project has valued the organizing system and revalueing of the agricultural and wooded areas, also taking into consideration the displacement of the roads. In particular a small lake has been planned for the purpose of irrigation, the water being supplied through the preservation of rain-water and furthermore the transferring of a section of the road neighbouring Uzzano which skirts the wall of the park.
