Giardino dei Semplici (Orto Botanico)

Florence's Giardino dei Semplici is a botanical garden founded by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1545. Its name recalls medicinal plants, or simples, linking its origins with the study of plants used in pharmacy.

Why it matters

The garden connects Renaissance patronage with the development of botanical research and teaching. Its collections are organised around relationships between plants, their environments and their uses, rather than ornamental display alone.

What to notice

Aquatic plants, citrus, cycads, orchids, ferns and succulents represent contrasting forms of growth and adaptation. Other groups include carnivorous plants and species associated with serpentine soils. Beds, mature trees and glasshouses provide different settings for these collections within the walled garden.

Context and history

Cosimo I established the garden on 1 December 1545. Its later development followed changes in scientific practice and institutions, eventually bringing it into the University of Florence's museum system. Conservation, research and education form linked aspects of that history, extending the original interest in medicinal plants into a much wider botanical collection.