Acquired in 1593 by Pier Francesco de’ Medici, under Cosimo I it was the seat of the commanders of the Order of Santo Stefano. The Grand Duke Ferdinando II de’ Medici then granted it to Eleonora Ramirez di Montalvo who, from 1650, designated it as a countryside retreat of the Congregation she established, the Montalve, intended for the education of noble girls. In 1724 Anna Maria Luisa, the last descendant of the Medici family, moved to the Quiete and endowed the villa with an Italian garden, for which she used the advice of Sebastiano Rapi, gardener of Boboli.
On the ground floor of the Conservatory there is a historic pharmacy. It is not certain whether it was built at the same time as the founding of the Institute or later, although some objects, belonging to its equipment and dating back to the late 17th century, would suggest an activity already from that period.
Its activity ceased with the suppression of the Institute in the Napoleonic era. The furniture, consisting of a series of cabinets with glass doors and a counter with a marble top, is characterized by the simplicity of the whole with very few decorative elements. Interesting is the ceramic and glass equipment that testifies to the activity carried out between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 19th century: it consists of some round bottles with stoppers, albarelli, white ceramic jars, urn vases, and other Doccia manufacture vases.
Today it is the seat of the Center of Culture for Foreigners affiliated with the University of Florence.
