Giardino Botanico Alpino di Campo Imperatore 'Vincenzo Rivera'

The Campo Imperatore Alpine Botanical Garden “Vincenzo Rivera” is a high-altitude scientific garden on the Gran Sasso plateau. Founded in 1952, it cultivates and studies alpine plants in the mountain environment where they naturally grow.

Why it matters

The garden was established through the work of botanist Vincenzo Rivera and belongs to the University of L'Aquila. At more than 2,100 metres above sea level, it supports research into the flora of the Gran Sasso and other high-mountain environments of the Apennines.

What to notice

The garden's beds contain more than three hundred species, most of them herbaceous plants adapted to exposed, high-altitude conditions. The contrast between cultivated plots and the surrounding grassland shows how the same mountain flora appears in both scientific collections and its natural habitat.

Context and history

Rivera promoted the garden in the early 1950s, and it was formally founded in 1952 with recognition from the National Research Council. The land passed from municipal ownership to the University of L'Aquila in 1971, and the garden took Rivera's name. It remains a university scientific institution within the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park.