On one of your Florence tours, you will undoubtedly visit the Botanical Gardens.
The Botanical Gardens are known as the Giardino dei Semplici, a name derived from the medicinal plants that grow in the garden. The Botanical Gardens have an ancient history. The Botanical gardens was created on 1st December 1545 on land acquired from the Dominican sisters by the Grand Duke Cosimo dei Medici. The Giardino dei Semplici was the third Botanical Garden after Padua and Pisa. The Botanical Gardens had flower beds, avenues and fountains and statues by famed Florentine sculptors.
Luca Ghini supervised the gardens in the early days. Piero Antonio Micheli and Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti improved the Botanical Gardens later on. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the Florentine Botanical Society and the famed botanist Pier Antonio Micheli and from 1783, the Accademia dei Georgofili. The Botanical Gardens measures about two hectares. The original layout, il Tribolo, designed by Niccolo with warm and temperate homes for plants of a tropical origin, plants of medicinal origin and fantastic specimens of cedars, oaks and sequoia trees from the the early days of the nineteenth century has been painstakingly preserved.
At the Botanical Gardens, there are many species of unique plants that are very old in origin. Notable ones are:
The Taxus baccata planted around 1720 by Micheli himself
A massive oak tree planted in 1805
Coniferae such as Araucaria, Sequoia and Torreya
Metasequoia glytostroboides, a species deemed as a fossil
Collection of Cicadidae, Orchids, Tillandsia and ferns
Azaleas, cactuses, carnivorous and medicinal plants
A guided tour of the Botanical Gardens takes about 90 minutes. The garden is located on the Via P.A. Micheli. You can park at the Piazza Liberta, Parterre. Or you may need to take a bus to Piazza San Marco getting off at the Via Lamarmora stop. The Gardens are open on weekdays and Sundays from 0900 to 1300 hours. It is closed on Sundays. Entrance is free.
The Botanical Gardens remains one of the foremost Tourist Attractions in Florence. Travel.mapsofworld.com provides description of Botanical Gardens.
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