The UNESCO World Heritage site listed Orto Botanico di Padova has a small museum beside it. I am no museum guy and I don’t expect to be interested in the museum but it was raining and I already paid for it. So I might as well go and have a look while waiting out the rain. The museum was well set up. It tells the history of the Orto Botanico di Padova and basically why it ended up in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Being the first academic botanical garden helps no matter how underwhelming this place is. It has inspired countless botanical gardens around the world, not only by being the first but also by it continuous contributions to plant research.

When I was still in school, plant studies was one of the subjects which didn’t interest me. I thought it was boring and the teacher should just move on to animals and microbes. I think this disinterest still continues today. I know that what is on exhibit here at the museum is important but I really couldn’t get myself to read the descriptions. One thing which I saw was a wall of fungi. Back then they were classified by looks. Keep in mind that Orto Botnico di Padova was established as a facility to help students learn more about medicinal plants. Getting the students to recognize these plants and fungi helps to educate them to better use the plants they see out in the world. This is far different from how students need to know chemicals which are used to treat illnesses. How times have changed. One can’t deny the importance of Orto Botanico di Padova in getting us to this stage.

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