Botanical Garden

On June 29, 1545, the construction of what would become the oldest university botanical garden in the world was approved by the Consiglio dei Pregadi of the Serenissima. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, the Botanical Garden of Padua is a true masterpiece, both architecturally and scientifically.

The birth of the Botanical Garden
At the time of its creation, the study of medicinal plants was already widespread at the University of Padua, but was limited to the consultation of books and ancient texts. This is why its application often proved ineffective, or even harmful to public health. It was then that Francesco Bonafede requested the creation of a “Horto medicinale”, so that students could more easily recognize the species, already numbering 1,800 at the inauguration of the garden. The commercial exchanges of the Venetian Republic with different countries made it possible to continually enrich the garden with exotic plants and non-native species.

The Botanical Garden today
After more than 450 years of existence, the Botanical Garden had to be extensively renovated in 2014 in order to combine tradition and innovation. The Biodiversity Garden was therefore built in an adjacent space. In addition to the visit to the Antique Garden, there is a real discovery tour of the flora of the five continents. There are no fewer than 1,000 species of plants spread across five biomes, depending on their temperature and humidity requirements.

Today, the Padua Botanical Garden is home to 3,500 different species, with the aim of representing, albeit in a reduced format, a significant part of the entire plant kingdom. An essential stopover that should not be missing from your discovery itinerary of the city of Padua.