Orto Botanico dell'Università di Urbino

Urbino's university botanic garden was founded in 1809 on ground cultivated by the Franciscans since 1286. Three sloping terraces now hold medicinal beds, trees and plant collections, preserving a scientific institution within the historic city.

Why it matters

Giovanni de Brignoli da Brunhoff founded the garden and published its first plant catalogue in 1812. The site had served as a Franciscan convent garden since 1286 and passed wholly to the university in 1844. The garden supports botanical study through its collections, herbarium and Index Seminum, a catalogue used for seed exchange with other gardens.

What to notice

The 2,200-square-metre garden descends the hillside in three terraces. The upper terrace contains the Hortus simplicium, with thirteen box-edged beds of medicinal plants around a small pond. Nearby, the Serra De Brignoli greenhouse was built in 1813. The middle terrace retains rectangular beds arranged according to the Linnaean system and an 1849 wrought-iron pump made by Quinto Galvani. Notable trees include a ginkgo, Norway spruce and deodar cedar; a yew and a large beech date to the garden's early period. Succulents, including cacti, are part of the collections.

Context and history

De Brignoli established the university garden in 1809, continuing a long tradition of cultivation on the slope. The university acquired the property in 1844, and the neoclassical brick façade at the top of the garden dates to 1848. The collections developed from medicinal plants to systematic beds and research into plant biodiversity. The garden is affiliated with the university's Department of Biomolecular Sciences.