In advance of the inclusion of villas and gardens of the Medici family in the world heritage list in 2013, and the interest in the Medici family brought about by RAI’s fiction “The Medici” (2026), already in 2004, the Tuscany region started the project “ The medici: portraits, villas and other Medici itineraries in Tuscany”, aimed at the discovery and valorisation of the routs and places related to this famous dynasty.

Every year, the project (coordinated by Patrizia Vezzosi), born also to encourage more aware youth and school tourism, sees the participation of thousands of schools from all over Tuscany. The idea is that of enhancing students’ knowledge of the Medici family whose power is effectively represented by official portraits, villas and numerus other documents which are still little known and valued. The project focuses on the formative and educational value of historical heritage and the use of new technologies for teaching, through an experimental educational and documentation method that starting from the cultural assets in the territory emphasises the relationship between main assets, minor assets, places and museums. The project, started in the school-educational field has increasingly involved the citizenship, the administrations and the associations and foresees every year the organisation of an event sponsored by the municipality of Cerreto Guidi, the Tuscany region and “Italia nostra”.

The brochure “Tuscany the ways of the Medici”, edited in 2017 by Tuscany’s touristic promotion, synthesises the results achieved by the project, selecting ten thematic itineraries. The volume is published online and can be freely download from the Tuscany region website.