Padua has many claims to fame – not least the Scrovegni Chapel and the Basilica of St. Antony the patron saint of lost causes, useful when trying to locate keys, glasses, wallet etc. More importantly it also has the oldest existing University Botanic Garden in Europe, created in 1545 and the origin of all botanical gardens in the world. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site
It preserves its original layout, a circular central plot symbolizing the world surrounded by a ring of water representing the ocean. The plan is a perfect circle with a large square, which is subdivided into four units by paths, oriented according to the main cardinal directions. The aquatic plants are kept warm by water fed from a very deep Artesian well. A circular wall enclosure was built to protect the garden from the frequent night thefts which occurred in spite of severe penalties (fines, prison, and exile). Beds around the perimeter are devoted to medicinal as well as poisonous plants.
Trees are a major feature and it hosts some ‘historic trees’, notably the Mediterranean palm made famous by Goethe who dedicated some of his works and scientific studies to it. It is now protected in a two storey greenhouse. Also featured are a Ginkgo planted in 1750 which was in its full golden autumn foliage as well as a towering Southern Magnolia planted 1786 – the latter is possibly the oldest one in Europe. It also gave me a chance to see persimmon trees in fruit. In the Arboretum outside the inner garden walls you will find a gigantic hollow trunked Oriental Plane planted in 1680.
Mid-November was of course not the best time of year to see the gardens but I was glad to see a Salvia Leucantha providing one of the few bright spots in the garden as it does in mine in late summer / early autumn.
In a separate area, a spectacular new glass building 100m long and 18m high has been created that houses plants that contin plants from different types of climate: tropical rain forest, sub-humid tropical forest and savannah, temperate, Mediterranean and arid.
There are also additional items that help in understanding the relationship between nature and culture. I was particularly struck by the nim or neem display – the twigs are often used as a toothbrush in Africa and India but now I understand more research is being done as to its medicinal potential. One of the items on display was a huge Cross section of a European Elm with very small brass pins marking each year of growth – it died in 1991 from a fungal growth but had lived for 155 years.
Bellisima – molto grazia!!!