If you love Nature, for sure you will love this place. If you are looking for an alternative way to discover Italy, for sure you will love this place. If you love Botanical Gardens, you MUST love this place, because this is not a simple Botanical Garden, this place is THE BOTANICAL GARDEN.
Padua Botanical Garden is simply the most ancient Botanical Garden of the world. The first one, built on 1545 by the Benedictine monks.
In 1997 the Botanical Garden of Padua was included as a cultural asset on the UNESCO World Heritage List
The Garden is of course continuously evolving.
The Biodiversity Garden is the most recent structure (inaugurated in 2014) of the Botanical Garden.
The whole Garden is Fully accessible, with an area for visually impaired people, with Braille plates and the possibility of touching the plants, for a tactile experience.
To avoid to make this post too long, I wrote a separate post about the accessibility aspects
The place, perfect for children from 4 to 124 years, is a refreshing experience on summertime.
A few minutes walk from Prato della Valle, the Padua Botanical Garden is easy to find.
I visited the Garden with @AntonellaGr on last Sunday, looking for a green area inside the city. If you want to follow me on my visit, just continue to read
People with disabilities can call to ask for support for access and / or parking information
Wheelchair users can access the ticket office of the Botanical Garden via a convenient ramp
Built in 1545, the ancient garden consists of a large circle, inside which four square areas are inscribed, known as “the quarters”. In there, the plants are identified according to the environment (e.g. aquatic plants), or the species, like for cacti, or the function (like for medical plants).
Inside the garden there is an educational itinerary for the blind and visually impaired. These are plants, grown in pots, which can be replaced during the year. Each plant, with particular characteristics appreciable by touch or smell, is marked by a panel indicating the name and peculiarities of the species in Braille writing.
Cacti and succulent plants are present in many parts of the garden, grouped by type and family. on 2019 I visited The Ruth Bancroft Garden & Nursery, but in Padua I have seen cacti that wasn’t in the Californian Garden
What I have found absolutely amazing is the aquatic garden. If you like to take photos of flowers you are absolutely in the right place. I had to limit myself, as I was left behind by my wife, lost in a world of beauty and colors
Next step is the library (should be the library, as it was closed due to the Covid rules). I will have to visit the garden again when the library will open.
Access to the library is guaranteed to all via a wheelchair ramp
The Palm of St. Peter.
It appear like a strange building, a greenhouse built around a tree. Planted in 1585, is currently the oldest plant in the Padua Botanical Garden.
The plant is known as “Goethe palm” because the poet, after seeing it in 1786, wrote “Essay on the metamorphosis of plants”.
After a couple of hours walking and taking photos (a lot of photos) under the sun of July, we decided to take a short rest, near a fountain. The “four seasons” fountain was inserted outside the circular walls (the core of the garden) in the 18th century.
Then, relaxing walk of a few minutes through the park allows you to reach the Biodiversity Garden.
The Biodiversity Garden is divided into four parts:
- Rain forest
- Sub-humid tropical forest
- Temperate and Mediterranean
- Arid
The building is designed and built to reduce the environmental impact as much as possible, with solar panels, and water taken from a well 284 meters deep, at a constant temperature of 24° C
Rain Forest
Is the first environment we enter, and probably the most fascinating one, given that it is estimated that more than 50% of the planet’s biodiversity is found in rain forests.
Inside the rain forest area you will find an elevator to allow disabled people access to the elevated part of the building.
The Arid Zone is the last area of the Biodiversity Garden, where the desert environment is represented, with Cactus and succulents.
The Panoramic terrace completes the visit to the Biodiversity Garden. The disabled can access via lift.
From the terrace you can admire the entire external part of the Garden.
The tour is ended here, even if there is a lot more to say and to see.
As I know you are interested to know more, I’ve prepared:
- The tour in My Maps
- The Photo Album
- The post related to the accessibility on the place: Accessible Life - Padua Botanical Garden
Do you want to share with us your experience about the Botanical Gardens? Feel free to share your photos, or the link to your posts, or your reviews in Google Maps
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, Verona 
, Venice 
and Vicenza 
: four cities where art, culture, food and beautiful people are ready to welcome and amaze anyone who wants to visit them and fall in love 
with them!
), formato weekend 
