The Botanical Garden, called also “Giardino dei Semplici”, created by the Medicis as a garden for medicinal plants (the “Simples”) in 1545, are among the oldest Gardens in the world. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, it enjoyed a period of great splendour. It covers an area of over two hectares, indoors and outdoors. In its warm and cold greenhouses, built in the nineteenth century and the largest in Italy, are placed tropical and subtropical plants including the collections of Cicadae, of particular interest, Ficus, Palms, an ancient collection of citruses, succulent and aquatic plants, in addition to a rich collection of plants for traditional ethnobotanical uses.
Outdoors we find the vast collection of edible plants, the flowerbeds of medicinal and poisonous plants, the Zen garden and two acclimatization beds for exotic palms and Cicadae, hydrangeas in numerous varieties, the historical collection of azaleas, the pools with aquatic plants, among which there are species worthy of conservation, in addition to the lotus flowers and water lilies. Three display cases contain a small collection of carnivorous plants.
In the Garden, there are more than 200 trees, among which the magnificent 5 monumental trees, including the yew, planted in 1720 - the oldest specimen in the garden - and the cork oak of 1805.
Museo di Storia Naturale dell'Università di Firenze - Orto Botanico, Giardino dei Semplici
Via Pier Antonio Micheli, 3, 50121 Firenze FI, Italia
The Botanical Garden is exhibited on one level, without any barriers. At the entrance of the museum, people will find the ticket Office and an Infopoint. People having special needs are kindly suggested to get in touch with the customer care office (Servizi Educativi) before visiting. A map and a mobile APP with about 50 files to learn more about the species to find in this garden are available at the entrance (Artplace Museum: Google Play | App Store).
A small electric golf cart is available for disabled people and the elderly to visit the botanical garden: the minicar can hold maximum two wheelchairs. Accessible toilets are located inside the garden.
A dedicated itinerary for the sight-impaired winds through the open gardens and in the large cold and warm greenhouses. The itinerary, sponsored by the Municipality of Florence, was financed in part by Regione Toscana with the contribution of the Braille printing house that took care of the creation of all the tags and maps in Braille, the Italian Union for the Blind and VIVAT (Italian volunteers for tactile art visits).This museum belongs to the network Musei Welcome Firenze who organises guided tours, workshops and meetings for all types of publics all year round (such as Tactum and Arti e Scienze).
