The Botanical Garden of Padova

In ancient times, plants long-known for their therapeutic effects constituted the almost unique source of medicines to be used in the treatment of various diseases. The study of the morphological characteristics mostly occurred by comparing the plants with images present in illustrated herbals. Often, these were not very detailed, based on drawings passed down over the centuries in which the plants were not easily recognizable.

In the first half of the 1500s the University of Padova had already been in existence for a long time and was famous throughout Europe for the quality of its studies in the field of medicine. It was in that period of time that Francesco Bonafede, at the time professor of lectura simplicium, gave the go-ahead for a simple but extremely advanced cultural operation that then had repercussions throughout Europe. He felt a strong need to exhibit the medicinal plants whose therapeutic properties he spoke of to his students; the future doctors would have avoided giving their patients plants without therapeutic value but also, in the worst cases, toxic plants. Therefore, he asked that a University Botanical Garden (Hortus simplicium) exclusively dedicated to the cultivation of medicinal plants be established at the University of Padova. His request was granted. On June 29, 1545, a decree of the Consiglio dei Pregadi of the Serenissima Republic of Venice established the Hortus simplicium in Padova; Luigi Squalerno, a recognized expert on medicinal plants, was the first Prefect of the Botanical Garden.

Decree of the foundation of the Botanical Garden: reproduction, 1545 (from Phaidra)

Padova and its University, thanks to the fame of its studies, was frequented by students from various parts of Europe, and the Botanical Garden soon became a point of reference and a model for the establishment of other European Botanical Gardens. Starting from its foundation, the various Prefects regarded the plants almost exclusively from a medical perspective, as sources of medicines, and this mission remained practically unchanged until the XVIII century when, under the prefecture of Pontedera, the study of plants irrespective of their possible usefulness also began to assert itself – a phenomenon that was occurring throughout the whole of Europe. Even the plant collections of the Botanical Gardens were gradually reflecting these changes, and so the medicinal plants were flanked more and more by plants whose interest was exclusively botanical. In its nearly five centuries of activity, the Botanical Garden has witnessed the evolution of botany, from science applied to medicine to pure science, gradually becoming differentiated and organized into the numerous specialist branches that exist today.

The Hortus cinctus in a panel of the Gymnasium Patavinum Iacobi Philippi Tomasini episcopi Aemoniensis libris 5. comprehensum..., 1654 (from Phaidra, Descrizioni dell'Orto botanico di Padova nel tempo collection)
The beauty, history and, above all, the uniqueness of the Botanical Garden of Padova led to it being included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. This was a great honour and has increased awareness of the importance of the role the Garden itself has played in the transmission of its cultural heritage, in its commitment to supporting plant biodiversity and in promoting educational activities and research.

Located in the heart of the historic centre of Padova, since its foundation it has maintained its original location and architectural structure, which represents a miniature cosmos in which different environments find space, represented by collections of plants from all over the world. The Botanical Garden currently constitutes a structure in which historic culture merges with modern didactic and scientific methods.

In recent times the University of Padova had the possibility and the foresight to buy an area adjacent to the historic Botanical Garden, making a considerable investment in terms of financial resources. In the area thus acquired, in fact, a satellite portion was annexed, the Garden of Biodiversity, where, in five greenhouses built with innovative and eco-sustainable technologies, there are a number of plant collections that represent the main biomes of our planet. Visitors takes an imagined journey, immersing themselves completely in the tropical biome, then passing on to the subtropical one and reaching the arid biome by way of the temperate one. It is also a phytogeographic journey from America to Africa, from Asia to Europe and to Oceania, areas that are distant from one another but characterized by the presence of ecosystems with similar environmental conditions. Through plants it is also possible to tell the story of man: we have always used them to eat, to take care of ourselves, to dress ourselves, and as a raw material in many industrial applications. To explain all this, a modern and effective exhibition itinerary was also created in the new sector – so effective, indeed, that it has become an innovative example of scientific dissemination capable of motivating and attracting more qualified visitors. The project of the new greenhouses has maintained the connection with the historical Botanical Garden through a construction that respects the dimensions, proportions and the orientation of the axes of the Hortus cinctus that visually connect the domes of the basilica of Santa Giustina and that of Sant'Antonio.

View of the historical part of the botanical garden, with the Hortus cinctus and the greenhouse of the so-called "Goethe’s palm"; in the background we can see the arboretum created by Giovanni Marsili (photo by M. Danesin, from the University of Padova – Image Archive)

Finally, an area of the new building was dedicated to setting up research laboratories that will allow the Botanical Garden to carry out modern scientific research, thus enabling it to collaborate with other Botanical Gardens both in Italy and abroad. In addition, the Garden hosts and will enrich a germplasm bank in which the seeds of rare and/or threatened species are also stored in order to conserve biodiversity and encourage exchanges with other botanical gardens and scientific institutions. The new greenhouses constitute a technologically advanced complex, respectful of the environment, perfectly integrated in the urban fabric and with a great potential for the creation of scientific, cultural, social and entertainment events and enterprises.

Prof. Barbara Baldan, Prefect of the Botanical Garden