ONE MORNING AT THE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PADUA
The students from 4A promote Plant Biology, Art and History
THE OLDEST BOTANICAL GARDEN IN THE WORLD
Arianna De Luca:
The Botanical Garden of the University of Padua was founded in 1545. It is the oldest garden in the
world, which is still in its original location. It includes more than 7,000 species of plants.
.
A SQUARE INSIDE A CIRCLE
Lorenzo Sancassani:
The design is an extraordinary example of balance and harmonious geometrical composition,
inspired to the Renaissance.
HORTUS SIMPLICIUM
Teresa Calazavara:
The Garden (22,000 square meters) was founded on deliberation of the Senate of the Venetian
Republic, which needed plant specialists for its trades. Medicinal plants, the so-called "simple
plants" produced natural remedies. Attending the Garden of the University students learned to
distinguish the genuine medicinal plants from the wrong or poisonous ones.
The cultivation of “medicinal” plants continued over the centuries. Some are still used in medicine
because they have therapeutic properties but others were used in the past but are no longer
therapeutically valid today.
Over the years, the Botanical Garden was steadily enriched with plants from all over the world,
particularly from the countries that participated in trade with Venice. Consequently, Padua had a
leading role in the introduction and study of many exotic plants. A herbarium, a library and many
laboratories were gradually added to its Botanical Garden.
HORTUS CINCTUS
Luca Gasparinetti:
There are no documents proving the paternity of the project, even though there is evidence of the
involvement in the works of architect Andrea Moroni from Bergamo, who also designed the old
courtyard of Palazzo Bo. A few years after the founding, in 1552, a circular wall of fence was built,
to prevent the continuous nocturnal thefts of valuable medicinal plants.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century four monumental doorways were built, the flowerbeds
were altered, the fountains in the centre of each quarter were added, at the intersection of the two
main
paths.
In later times, Hortus Cinctus was expanded to occupy the area outside the circular wall, where
other fountains were created: the Fountain of Theophrastus, a Greek medical doctor of the III
century BC, considered the Father of Botany (South gate), and one called the Four Seasons (East
gate) represented by four eighteenth-century marble busts depicting the allegories of the Four
Seasons. A statue of Solomon by the Paduan sculptor Antonio Bonazza is also seen there. The early
greenhouses were also made of masonry; one of these nineteenth-century greenhouses still has the
original interior structure with elegant arches and cast iron columns.
On the ledge of the "botanical theatre" the busts of eminent scholars were placed: in the middle you
can see the bust of Francesco Bonafede, the scholar promoting Plant Biology and Medicine, along
with those of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, Karl Linnaeus, Antonio Bernardo de Jussieu and
Marcello Malpighi. The large building near the entrance, which dates back to the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, was once intended to house of the Prefect of the Botanical Garden.
PHILOSOPHY
Tommaso Turchetto:
Mrs. Padovani, our Chemistry and Biology teacher, suggested we should read Verde Brillante by
Stefano Mancuso and Alessandro Viola, an interesting approach to the “Green world” considering
plants as living beings.
From the beginning even philosophers discussed about this issue, from Aristotle, who treated plants
like objects, to Democritus, who treated them in a different and modern way.
Karl Linnaeus, however, was the first scientist (he lived during the 18 th century) who focused on
their reproductive systems and tried to catalog them like real living beings for the first time in
history!
HOT SPRING WATER FROM THE HILLS
Massimiliano Boccato:
The design of Garden is commonly attributed to Andrea Moroni, who created some of the most
important public monuments in Padua, such as the Basilica of Santa Giustina in Prato della Valle.
The Town Hall and the university were built in the first half of the 16 th century. However, the real
architect was Daniele Barbaro, a Venetian nobleman who was a man of vast learning and translator
of Vitruvius De Architectura. By the end of the 16 th century the garden was enriched with fountains
fed by a gigantic hydrophore wheel to ensure proper irrigation. During the first half of the 18 th
century the wall was refined along the external perimeter by a balustrade made of Istria stone. In the
garden there are also three sundials: a cubic one, a circular one and a cylindrical one. A pool of
water for the aquatic plants is fed by a continuous jet of warm water, which comes from a waterbearing stratum of earth located 300 meters below the level of the garden. The warm water comes
from Padua hillside (Euganean Hills)
“Nymphaea” is a genus of hard, waterproof, aquatic plants in the
Nymphaeaceae family.
THE PREFECT
Benedetta Bibiani:
The building that hosted the Prefect (garden manager) was built
before the garden itself.
Nowadays the Prefect is Ms Barbara Baldan, the second woman
since foundation. At the beginning, the balustrade, the reception
and the gates were missing. They were built later because lots of
plants were stolen during the early years. I liked both the old part
and the new one in the same way.
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE
Alesia Greku:
In 1997 the botanical garden of Padua was included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO
because “it is the original of all botanical gardens throughout the world, and represents the birth of
science, of scientific exchanges, and understanding of the relationship between nature and culture.
It has made a profound contribution to the development of many modern scientific disciplines,
notably botany, medicine, chemistry, ecology and pharmacy.”
The pattern of the square inside a circle refers to a medieval “Hortus Conclusus”, a heavenly place.
THE NEW AREA
Arianna De Luca:
On May 2002, the adjacent Jesuit College Antonianum sold most of its land to the Botanical Garden
and in 2008 began the works to extend the facility. The new area is characterized by major
technological innovations: the main change concerns the construction of four greenhouses that
reproduce various terrestrial ecosystems, from tropical to arid.
In the Garden of biodiversity there are more than 1,300 species of plants. The building is made from
glass except for the roof, which is made with cushions of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, a resistant
plastic more transparent than glass to UV rays, which are vital for the plants. The facility was built
to exploit to the full the natural energy from the sun and natural precipitations are collected in a big
pool and then the water is used to feed the plants.
The plants are arranged into several zones: America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe, in that way
the visitor can see that different plants grow in different zones of the world because of the different
climate zones.
BIOMES
Davide Damiani:
Just outside the Botanical Garden there is a new greenhouse that takes the visitor on an imaginary
journey from the Equator to the Poles, in fact it contains four different environments: the Tropical
rain forest, the Sub-humid tropical forest and Savannah, the Temperate and Mediterranean climate
and the Arid climate. Each climate/forest has their typical plants and trees.
At present, the oldest plant is a Palm tree planted in 1585 called "Goethe’s Palm Tree”, because the
poet referred to it in his essay "Geschichte meines botanisches Studiums"; this tree is situated in a
greenhouse inside the Hortus Sphaericus, where there is also a Ginkgo and a Magnolia dating back
to the mid-18th century, which are regarded as the oldest specimina in Europe.
THE GUIDED TOUR
Martina Mognato:
The first plant we saw was an Oriental Plane dated 1680. It is recognizable by its hollow trunk
probably caused by a lightning strike.
The second was a Ginkgo Biloba dated 1750, an old male specimen grafted with a female branch in
the mid – 1850’s.
The
“Ginkgo Biloba” is a male specimen dating back to 1750.
This tree from the Garden has a female branch that was grafted for educational purposes; the guide
told us that the fruits of a female Ginkgo Biloba stink.
GINGKO, A LIVING FOSSIL
Lorenzo Sancassani:
The guide explained that now the site is also used for the preservation of many rare and endangered
species. We saw majestic trees like a Plane tree or a Gingko Biloba, imported in 1750. The Gingko
is considered a living fossil, since it has been surviving identical for 250 million years and this
specimen in particular is special because it is a male plant that was grafted with a branch of a
female one, so it can reproduce independently. The Plane Tree, which has been growing in that
garden since 1680, shows a unique feature: in spite of its hollow trunk, it is still living, because
only the exterior of the trunk is needed to carry the sap to the plant.
At the entrance we saw an ancient hollow Oriental Plane tree and a lovely Camellia plant.
Oriental Plane
Camellia
plant
The “Camellia plant” is a genus of flowering plants in the Theaceae family.
Everybody was enchanted by the pink flowers of this plant and by the pink petals that had fallen to
the ground.
Elisabetta Binetti:
We entered the most interesting area of the garden from the North gate. It is the most beautiful part
to me because of its peculiar shape: a circle, which represents the Universe, inside which there is a
square, the symbol of Earth. Plants are divided by category (medicinal plants, rare Triveneto plants
etc.) in beds organized in geometric shapes. However, there are also some old trees such as
Goethe’s Palm, a very tall palm tree protected by a glass structure. It is so called because it inspired
Goethe to write his theory on natural metamorphosis.
”
Goethe's Palm Tree
Benedetta Bibiani: I was really impressed by the old Palm tree, which is more than 10 meters high.
BIODIVERSITY
Alessandra Gasparini:
At the end of the tour Lorenzo, our guide, took us into the biodiversity garden
The Garden of Biodiversity opened in October 2014, it is one of the most advanced greenhouses in
the world in this field.
Within this new , futuristic , facility more than 1,300 species of plants are grown
They are divided into four macro environments:
1. Tropical rainforest;
2. sub humid tropical forest;
3. temperate and Mediterranean climate;
4. arid climate.
PHYTOGEOGRAPHY
Teresa Calzavara:
The species in the biodiversity garden live in environments sharing the same humidity and
temperature characteristics, simulating the climate condition of the planet’s biomes, from tropical to
sub-humid, temperate and arid zones. The position of the plants in each environment and of the
aquatic plant pool reflects a phytogeographic division. To discover the plants and their
environments is a sort of voyage through the Earth’s flora.
Massimiliano Boccato:
The Garden’s new greenhouses, which run on solar and water power, take the visitor on a journey
through the Earth’s climate zones. We saw a lot of plants that come from all continents, in fact,
when we entered the greenhouse, we saw South American plants that live in a very humid place, for
example the plant of “Cocoa”: this plant was considered medicinal, but in 1886 Mr John Smith
Pemberton added some sugar to the preparation inventing one of the best drinks of history: Coca
Cola. At the bottom of the greenhouse, we saw the desert’s plant for example the plant of tequila or
cacti that live in a very dry place.
THE CONSERVATION OF SEEDS
Luca Gasparinetti:
Initially I was impressed by the majesty and the peculiarity of the Oriental Plane tree and later by
Goethe’s Palm tree but my main interest was the safeguard of biodiversity of more than 7,000
species of plants.
A very important feature of the present times is deforestation due to human arrogance as well as
ignorance about the exploitation of nature. Today the Garden houses museum exhibitions (ground
floor); on the first floor there is the historic library, the archive of the Botanical Garden and
Herbarium, while the second floor houses the management and other premises for the storage of
seeds. The conservation of seeds is crucial to avoid the disappearing from the face of the earth of
endangered plants. To this purpose a University Centre was built with the purpose of protection,
conservation, enhancement and transmission to future generations of the World Cultural Heritage of
the Botanical Garden. Besides preserving local, rare or endangered plant species, the Botanical
Garden is engaged to maintain biodiversity; encourage research and experimentation; promote
experimental teaching. In addition to the preservation of seeds and growing plants the Botanical
Garden of Padua is also a responsible and foremost to scientific research. In his nearly five
centuries of activity, the Garden has witnessed the evolution of the science of botany applied to
medicine as well as theoretical science, which has gradually been differentiating and articulating in
numerous current specialized branches. During this century-long evolution, it has always
maintained a high standard of scientific and educational activities, constantly adapting its living
collections to the changing needs imposed by the progress of botanical disciplines.