Giacomo Puccini arrived in Torre del Lago for the first time in June, 1891.  After having lived in a rented house for a number of years, as soon as he could afford it, after the success of Manon Lescaut (1893) and La bohème (1896) , he bought the present building, which was an old guard tower on the Archduke’s estate, and had it completely rebuilt.  At the same time he obtained permission from Marquis Carlo Ginori, owner of the lake, to fill in a part in front of the villa in order to make a garden and build the road outside the garden fence.  The house, sober and elegant, was fitted with all comforts, from central heating to the telephone.

The Maestro 
at the  piano

Puccini loved living in Torre del Lago where he could go hunting and enjoy the peace he needed for his work.

The "La bohème" club
in a drawing
by Ferruccio Pagni

At Torre del Lago he composed most of his operas:
Manon Lescaut, La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly,
La Fanciulla del West, La Rondine e Il Trittico.

The Maestro composed above all during the night.   Whenever possible he went hunting which was an extremely easy pursuit owing to the position of the house. He kept his boats right in front of the fence and the lake and adjacent wetlands were the undisputed domain of Puccini and his hunting mates.

The Puccini family led the simple life of a middle-class family: the house was frequented by people of all social classes. The fishermen and hunters of Torre del Lago were the Maestro’s habitual companions. He was also friendly with a number of painters living in Torre del Lago like Ferruccio Pagni, Plinio Nomellini and others who frequented this agreeable lakeside locality including Leonetto Cappiello and the Tommasi brothers. Marquis Ginori, Counts della Gherardesca, Duke Salviati, the Orlando family and the poet Giovanni Pascoli were friends of the Maestro.

In 1921 Puccini left Torre del Lago and moved to the villa he had had built in Viareggio in the new Marco Polo quarter; he lived there until 1924, the year of his death.

After his father’s death, Antonio Puccini, the Maestro’s only son, had the chapel built inside the Torre del Lago villa and Puccini’s body was brought there on 29 November 1926. Other members of the family were later buried there.