The Orto Botanico di Padova is the second UNESCO World Heritage site in the city of Padova. It is the oldest academic botanical garden still in its original location. It is managed by the University of Padua, also another historic university in its own right. Despite the rain, I thought to visit it even though I know there will not be any shelter there. The botanical garden actually isn’t very large and it can be easily be visited within an hour, more if you have an interest in plants. I know also that it was winter and I don’t expect to see a lot of plants growing this time of the year.

The layout of the garden is circular which makes it easy to see most of the garden. The garden dates back to 1545 and was initially dedicated to the study of medicinal plants. Eventually, the garden included exotic plants from places which the Venetian republic trades with. Because of this extensive collection of plants from everywhere, the botanical garden became a center of studies of plants. The layout is also note worthy because it systematically divides plants by area and species. Curiously there are walls which surround the garden, apparently, this was because there was a lot of theft and the walls were meant to help prevent this. I don’t really expect to see much here because it is winter but I would at least appreciate the set up of the botanical garden itself.

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