A precious garden, this is how it is defined the Botanical Garden of Lucca, a green island of about two hectares in the middle of the historical city center, close to the city walls.
The garden has been founded in the 1820 on a request of the princess Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, sister of Napoleone Bonaparte and with high interests in nature and biodiversity. However the foundation was not so simple since the princess was forced to leave Lucca when the Napoleon Empire was falling down, this was 1814, but her idea of the botanical garden was taken back by Maria Luisa di Bordone, new Duchess of Lucca after her.
The garden has been passing by several owners along the years till when the ownership was finally given to the city of Lucca in 1903, it has been maintained very well for many years till when it has been hitting a recession when his curator died and after that a very big infection of termites appointed it.
In 1980 the garden comes back to its original shape and it has been keeping well maintained till now, when in 2020, it reached the 200 anniversary of its foundation.
The garden is divided in several sections, a general one with trees and plants from all around the region but also from outside, imagine the oldest tree in the garden is dated 1822 and it is a Cider of Lebanon planted by some seeds coming from the Botanical Garden of Pisa, this tree was existing in Lucca even before the garden was built around it and it is now height 20 meters.
Another section contains a small natural lake with its water biodiversity, for this small lake an old legend exists about a lady called Lucida Mansi. She was a very known person in 1600 in Lucca joining the rich life of the city, she was so beautiful that many men were looking after her. A day she noticed in the mirror the trace of her first wrinkle and she started crying and desperating till when she met a very beautiful man, he was the Devil. He promised her 30 more years of her beautiness in exchange of her soul … she accepted directly! After the 30 years the Devil came back to renew his offer but Lucida refused. Because of that, and the original promise 30 years back, the Devil took her soul and put her on a flaming carriage riding all around the historical walls of Lucca so that the population could hear her crying and all her desperate moans, after that he sunk her and the carriage in this lake where she is currently sleeping. The legend says that every night before midnight on the 31st of October you can see the carriage riding, hear the clogs and seeing it going deep into the hell. The reality is that Lucida died of the Plague.
The garden has got also a section with a edible types of plants and even a controlled environment closed area for cacti plants from several countries of the world. Here I have to admit that my thoughts went to the Cacti and Succulent post of @ermest, I was so curious to see all the Cacti shapes existing here, when I was surprised reading the amazing variety in the post by Ermes.
Along the path to visit the garden there are also several benches where you can seat, relax and admire this beautiful nature.
The garden is almost full accessible, with a wheelchair path along the main routes (few offsite sections however don’t have it), accessible toilets and also plant descriptions for visually impaired people.
Of course flowers cannot miss and there are many different types growing and maintained here, in this season there were many still open and you could spot all the nice colors inside the vivid green average color of the landscape.
Do you have a botanical garden in your city? Did you know the oldest one in Italy is in Padua?
… and it was a very good decision, very nice garden!
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