Attention stargazers: A 15th-century townhouse in Florence, Italy, with a tower used by Galileo Galilei himself is now available for sale asking €12.5 million (US$14.71 million).
Located on a steep cobblestone street in the hilly Oltrarno district, the historic residence is next door to a house Galileo owned in the 17th century. But the illustrious astronomer’s connection to the house is even stronger—he used its rooftop to study the movement of the stars.
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Galileo’s theories, most famously that the Earth obits the sun, would of course change the course of history. A plaque attached to the home reads: “From this house, Galileo Galilei—speculating on the motion of the stars—deduced that of the Earth.”
Today, its rooftop—with two separate terraces—still offers 360-degree views of the city, including the Arno river, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Palazzo Vecchio, according to the listing with the brokerage Lionard. The agents could not be reached for comment.
The tower’s exceptional history and views are hardly the only impressive thing about the house, which spans nearly 7,000 square feet across four levels, plus a 3,500-square-foot private garden. It features five bedrooms, formal living and dining areas, as well as a two-level kitchen with a breakfast nook, a gym, an elevator and a covered terrace that leads to the garden. The primary suite includes a private study and two bathrooms.
The home was purchased in 1991 by Florentine architect Patrizia Pietrogrande, who updated and modernized it, according to architectural records. The interiors showcase exposed wooden ceilings, tiled floors. decorative fireplaces and wood-framed windows, blending the old with the new, according to listing photos.
The house on Costa San Giorgio, just steps from the Ponte Vecchio and in view of the Forte di Belvedere at the top of the street, per the listing.
Though Galileo was from Pisa, he lived in and owned several homes in Florence. The scientist’s most well-known home, where he was condemned to house arrest by the Roman authorities in 1633 for his advocacy of heliocentrism, is located elsewhere in Florence.
The Galilei family purchased two neighboring homes on Costa San Giorgio in 1629 and 1634, and they were primarily occupied by Galileo’s son Vincenzo, according to the city’s architectural records. The scientist lived there briefly in 1638 in the care of his son with the permission of the Roman inquisition, according to the records.
Galileo would have continued his observations there with the help of the neighbor. “The tower, it appears, was granted to the scientist for his studies as a gesture of neighborly goodwill,” the records state in Italian.
Galileo’s most consequential work began much earlier. In 1610 he published “Sidereus Nuncius” or “Starry Night,” based on telescopic observations he made of Jupiter’s moons and the phases of Venus while in Padua. His conclusions about the movement of the stars set the scientific and religious world alight.
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The Costo San Giorgio homes remained in the Galilei family for two centuries and still bear frescoes from that time. On the same street is a convent where Galileo’s niece and granddaughter were nuns by the names of Sister Arcangiola and Sister Maria Olimpia, according to the Museum of Galileo.