Eight kilometres south of Pontassieve, hidden in a wooded estate above Leccio, sits one of the strangest buildings in Tuscany — a Moorish Revival palazzo whose interiors are an explosion of inlay, stucco, and saturated colour that would not look out of place in Granada or Marrakech. It has appeared in films (Tale of Tales, 2015) and on countless decorating blogs, but the castle itself is normally closed.
When the trustees do open it — usually for guided tours a few times a year, announced via the FAI heritage organisation — book ahead. Even if the gates are shut, the surrounding park, with its giant sequoias and exotic specimen trees, is worth the drive.