Description of the attraction
Minerva Gardens is perhaps the oldest botanical garden in Europe. It was founded at the beginning of the 14th century in the city of Salerno by Dr. Matteo Selvatiko, who connected the garden with the famous medical school of Scuola Medica Salernitana. In those years, it was located just outside the walls of the Castello di Areca castle along a green street that ran from the lower part of the city to the castle itself. Selvatiko set up a separate garden with medicinal plants on the territory of the garden, which became the predecessor of all botanical gardens in Europe. It was in it that the teacher of the prestigious Scuola Medica conducted his experiments, was engaged in the classification of plants and studied predatory plants.
The Gardens of Minerva, still located in the old center of Salerno, acquired their present appearance in the 18th century after the restoration of the territory. And the medieval medicinal garden of Selvatico is two meters below the level of the current pavement. The entire garden area is divided into terraces with a hydraulic system of fountains, canals and fish ponds on each level. The very name of the garden comes from the name of the fountain depicting the goddess Minerva. Another noteworthy fountain, designed in the form of a shell, is located on the highest terrace, which offers panoramic views.
On the territory of the garden, a special microclimate has formed with a favorable number of daylight hours, which allows you to grow a variety of plant species, including moisture-loving and heat-loving ones. Recently, ornamental and rare plant species have been planted here - ashwagandha, dashin, several types of roses, etc. They also try to reproduce the same medicinal plants that are mentioned in the most prominent scientific works of the Scuola Medica Salernitana. And in the lower part of the garden, several greenhouses were built for the cultivation of introduced species, for example, the legendary mandrake.
A long staircase with square columns at the base, entwined with climbing plants, connects several levels of the garden terraces - from the lower to the high belvedere, from which a wonderful view of the Salernitansky gulf opens. From there you can also admire the panorama from Punta Licosa to Punta Campanella.
