Description of the attraction
The Botanical Garden of Siena, spread over an area of 2.5 hectares in the area of Via Mattioli in Siena near the Porta Tufi gate, is an extensive urban park that is open to tourists every day.
The history of the creation of the botanical garden dates back to 1588, when the University of Siena first began to grow medicinal plants - then it was located next to the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala. In 1756, the field of activity of botanists expanded to the study of the entire natural history, and already in 1759, under the leadership of Giuseppe Baldassarri, rare and exotic plants began to be cultivated in the botanical garden. In 1784, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Pietro Leopoldo, carried out a university reform, as a result of which, in a short time, the garden's collections increased many times, including due to receipts from abroad. The first published document mentions 900 plant species, including those brought from different parts of the world. In 1856, the garden moved to its current location, where an institute was built at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1960s, the area of the garden was doubled.
Today the botanical garden is entirely located within the city walls of Siena, occupying the hilly areas of the San Agostino Valley. Its main collection is classified according to plant taxonomy: each species is assigned a separate small area. The so-called "agricultural area" grows fruits, olives and Chianti grapes. Also in the garden there are three greenhouses with a total area of about 500 square meters, where you can see tropical plant species, a collection of succulents arranged according to the country of origin, carnivorous plants and the main citrus species grown in Europe. And more recently, a Rock Garden and a real Fern Forest were built here.
