
The Orto Botanico dell'Università di Pavia also known as the Orto Botanico di Pavia (''Botanical Garden of Pavia'' in English), is a
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...
maintained by the
University of Pavia
The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...
. It is located at Via S. Epifanio, 14,
Pavia
Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086.
The city was a major polit ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, and is open to the public on weekends.
The botanical garden covers an area of about two hectares and has approximately two thousand different species of plants, which are organised in sections. The current director is Francesco Sartori.The Botanical Garden stands in the place where the church of Saint Epiphanius was located, of which it preserves the cloister of the 15th century.
History
The garden was started in 1773 as a successor to Pavia's earlier Orto dei Semplici (established 1558).
Fulgenzio Vitman
Fulgenzio Vitman (1728–1806) was an Italian clergyman and botanist. From 1763 to 1774 he taught botany at the University of Pavia, where in 1773 he founded the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Pavia, University Botanical Garden.
In 1774, he dev ...
, a
Vallombrosan
The Vallombrosians (alternately spelled Vallombrosans, Vallumbrosians or Vallumbrosans) are a monastic religious order in the Catholic Church. They are named after the location of their motherhouse founded in Vallombrosa (), situated 30 km ...
monk, established the first chair of botany at the
University of Pavia
The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...
and started the design of the Pavia Botanical Garden. In 1772, Count
Karl Joseph von Firmian
Karl Joseph von Firmian (15 August 1716 – 20 July 1782) was an Austrian noble, who served as Plenipotentiary of Lombardy to the Habsburg Monarchy. His proper name was Karl Gotthard von Firmian, and in Italy known as Carlo Giuseppe di Firmian. H ...
, Plenipotentiary of the
Habsburgs
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
for
Lombardy
The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...
, recommended the use of the
Padua Botanical Garden as an example. In 1773 the botanists Valentino Brusati and Giovanni Battista Borsieri undertook the works for the construction of the present seat. In 1774 the Chemistry Laboratory was established.
By 1775 the garden was in use, with its first wooden greenhouses constructed in 1776 designed by
Giuseppe Piermarini
Giuseppe Piermarini (; 18 July 1734 – 18 February 1808) was an Italian architect who trained with Luigi Vanvitelli in Naples and designed the Teatro alla Scala in Milan (1776–78), which remains the work by which he is chiefly remembered. I ...
, then modified by
Luigi Canonica in 1815.
In 1777, when the buildings of the Garden were already similar to the current one, he took over the direction of the naturalist
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italians, Italian physician and natural history, naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first ...
(1723-1788) Thanks to which the Botanical Garden of Pavia reached a structure comparable to that of the most famous Italian botanical gardens.
Nocca Domenico organized and expanded the garden 1797–1826, adding collections to exchange seeds and plants, and building a masonry greenhouse to replace the earlier wooden structures. The garden was extensively damaged in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, after which its greenhouses were relocated to the main building's south side.
From 1964 to 1982
Ruggero Tomaselli
Ruggero Tomaselli (Trento, 22 August 1920 – Monzuno, 30 March 1982) was an Italian botanist. He introduced the study of phytosociology to Italy.
Biography
Tomaselli was born in Trento on 22 August 1920. In 1943 he graduated from the Univ ...
was the director, who undertook the cultivation and study of species from every continent and made the tropical greenhouse.
Since 2017 the Botanical Garden of Pavia is part of the University of Pavia Museum System (SMA).
Collections
Today the garden contains about 2000
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...
, with major collections of
aquatic plant
Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...
s,
conifer
Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...
s,
hosta
''Hosta'' (, synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Funkia'') is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies and occasionally by the Japanese name gibōshi. Hostas are widely cultivated as shade-tolerant foliage plants. The genus is placed ...
,
hydrangea
''Hydrangea'' ( or ) is a genus of more than 70 species of Flowering plant, flowering plants native plant, native to Asia and the Americas. Hydrangea is also used as the common name for the genus; some (particularly ''Hydrangea macrophylla, H. m ...
,
magnolia
''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...
, medical plants,
peat bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muske ...
plants, and a
rose garden
A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Designs vary tremendously and roses may be displayed alongside other plants or grouped ...
. Its four greenhouses are as follows:

* Arid greenhouse (Serre Scopoliane, originally dating to 1776, long by wide) — a good collection of
succulent
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...
s (more than 500
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
) with notable specimens of ''
Ariocarpus furfuraceus'', ''
Ariocarpus trigonus'', ''
Copiapoa cinerea'', ''
Lophophora williamsii
The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains Psychoactive cactus, psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar Pupa#Cocoon, cocoon" ...
'' var. Caespitosa, ''
Obregonia denegrii'', and ''
Welwitschia mirabilis
''Welwitschia'' is a monotypic genus of gnetophytes containing only the species ''Welwitschia mirabilis''. It is named after the Austrian botanist Friedrich Welwitsch, who documented the plant in the 1850s. In common use, it is sometimes ref ...
'', and many species of ''
Frailea'', ''
Lobivia
''Lobivia'' is a genus of Cactus, cacti native species, native to South America from Bolivia, Peru to northwestern Argentina and Northern Chile.
Species
Species of the genus ''Lobivia'' according to Plants of the World Online :
References
...
'', and ''
Rebutia
''Rebutia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cactaceae, native to Bolivia and Argentina. The limits of the genus have varied widely, depending on whether genera such as ''Aylostera'' and ''Weingartia'' are included or treated separate ...
'', as well as 30 species of ''
Lithops
''Lithops'' is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa. They avoid being eaten by herbivores with their camouflage as small stones, and are often known as pebble plants ...
''.
* Orchidaceae greenhouse —
orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...
s from Central America and North America, plus ferns, ''
Araceae
The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...
'', ''
Bromeliaceae
The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...
'', and ''
Tillandsia
''Tillandsia'' is a genus of around 650 species of evergreen, perennial plant, perennial flowering plants in the family (biology), family Bromeliaceae, native to the forests, mountains and deserts of the Neotropical realm, Neotropics, from northe ...
''.
* Temperate greenhouse — plants of economic importance,
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
, etc.
* Tropical greenhouse (built 1974) — ''
Araceae
The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...
'', ''
Arecaceae
The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...
'', ''
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...
'', ''
Liliaceae
The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fai ...
'', ''
Marantaceae
The Marantaceae are a family, the arrowroot family, or the prayer plant family, of flowering plants consisting of 31 genera and around 530 species, defining it as one of the most species-rich families in its order. Kennedy, H. (2000). “Diversif ...
'', and ''
Pteridofitas''.

* The cultivation of
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...
.The director Giovanni Briosi, around the end of the nineteenth century, experimented with the cultivation of tea, but only around 1920 Gino Pollacci, managed to acclimatize the plant to the cold of
northern Italy
Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...
without needing any cover during the winter, thus giving rise to a new variety: ''
Camellia sinensis
''Camellia sinensis'' is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves, leaf buds, and stems can be used to produce tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (unrelated to ''Me ...
'' (L.) Kuntze 'Ticinensis' (= ''C. sinensis f. ticinensis'' (Pollacci & Gallotti) Ardenghi), of "Pavese tea". For this discovery, in 1939, he received an award from the Ministry of the Interior. The flowering of Pavese tea takes place in May and October.
Herbaria
The premises of the Botanical Garden of Pavia host the
Herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...
of the
University of Pavia
The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...
(acronym PAV), currently managed by the Department of Earth Sciences and Environment (DSTA). The oldest specimens date back to
Fulgenzio Vitman
Fulgenzio Vitman (1728–1806) was an Italian clergyman and botanist. From 1763 to 1774 he taught botany at the University of Pavia, where in 1773 he founded the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Pavia, University Botanical Garden.
In 1774, he dev ...
(1763-1785); Vitman’s herbarium has now been digitized, some of these were made, according to a technique very original for the time, integrating the dried plant with watercolor drawings, depicting mainly organs difficult to dry (e.g. succulent leaves, fruits).

Partly from a dried portion and partly from the collection of herbaria of dried plants continued until the direction of
Giuseppe Moretti (1826-1853). From Santo Garovaglio (1853-1882) were found the herbariums of Giuseppe Comolli and
Guglielmo Gasparrini; these herbariums were considered so important to be kept separately from the general collection. The establishment of a Lombard herbarium and a general herbarium dates back to the direction of
Raffaele Ciferri (1942-1964), with the intention of bringing together all the material present. Some herbariums, for example that of
Adriano Fiori, have partially retained their autonomous form. The main collections include mycological and lichen collections. Each sample shall bear a label bearing the place and date of collection of the material and the signature of those who have catalogued it.
Strict nature reserve Bosco Siro Negri

Since 1973, the Institute has managed the
Strict nature reserve Bosco Siro Negri
The Strict nature reserve Bosco Siro Negri is a protected natural area owned by the University of Pavia in Italy and included in the Parco naturale lombardo della Valle del Ticino.
History
The reserve is a small strip of the Po Valley that was ...
, a protected natural area owned by the
University of Pavia
The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...
. The reserve was donated to the University of Pavia in 1967 by Giuseppe Negri, a timber trader and great lover of nature. The reserve is located near Ticino, a few kilometers from the center of
Pavia
Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086.
The city was a major polit ...
. The forest shows us the original state of nature before the arrival of the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
, before the human settlement.The reserve covers an area of 34 hectares, corresponding to about 84 hectares and is one of the rare examples of forest vegetation of the
Po Valley
The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetian Plain, Venetic extension not actu ...
with characteristics of good naturalness, of very low anthropic disturbance and represents the faithful testimony of an ancient botanical natural heritage. The reserve is covered by a thick vegetation, mainly composed of oaks (''
Quercus robur
''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...
'').
Chronology
*1520- Probably the opening year of a collection of plants that it calls “Orto dei semplici” (“ Garden of remedies”) near the Leonardo Leggi’s residence, reader of “Ordinary Practice Medical”. This collection changed location many times over the years.
*1773-
Fulgenzio Witman, became reader in 1763, and was able to transfer the Garden to the place where it is now. The new site was set like a model from the earlier garden of Padova.
*1776- During
Valentino Brusati’s direction, greenhouses were built, by the architect
Giuseppe Piermarini
Giuseppe Piermarini (; 18 July 1734 – 18 February 1808) was an Italian architect who trained with Luigi Vanvitelli in Naples and designed the Teatro alla Scala in Milan (1776–78), which remains the work by which he is chiefly remembered. I ...
.
*1777-1778-
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italians, Italian physician and natural history, naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first ...
became director and gives to the Botanical Garden a structure similar to the current one. This fact can be checked by a publication that is in one of the most important Scolopi’s work, ''Deliciae Florae et Faunae Insubricae'', in 1786. Besides, under the direction of Scolopi were established a lot of connections with European Botanicals.

*1797-1826- Domenico Nocca became director and started again a lot of works of organization for the Garden: he ordered to
Luigi Canonica to restructure the Scolopi’s greenhouse and enriched the collection with exchange of seeds and plants.
*1871- Under the direction of
Santo Garovaglio a Laboratory Crittogamico was started, to study plant diseases caused by parasites.
*1883-1919- The Garden was directed by Giovanni Briosi: he instituted the first hot greenhouses.
*1943- The director
Raffaele Ciferri, took away some part of the greenhouse because of war; but then he edified the side monumental of the institute and the rose’s garden that still today it is a great feature of the Garden.
*1964-1982-
Ruggiero Tomaselli was the director; he increased the collection by importations of original plants from their origin places, where he did some searches; was edified the first tropical greenhouse in 1974.

*1997- The Botanical Vegetable Pot was part of the Department of Ecology of Territory and Environment. In the same year
Alberto Balduzzi became director and made a new collection of medicinal plants.
*2005- The Seed Bank of the University of Pavia was set up to preserve seeds of native plants that are threatened from the Lombardy region.
See also
*
List of botanical gardens in Italy
This list of botanical gardens in Italy is intended to include all significant botanical gardens and arboretums in Italy.
* Abruzzo
** Alpine Botanical Garden of Campo Imperatore (Giardino Botanico Alpino di Campo Imperatore)
** Giardi ...
References
Bibliography
Orto Botanico dell'Università di Pavia* Ardenghi Nicola M. G., Bracco Francesco, Cauzzi Paolo, Gianoli Luca W., Orsenigo Simone, Ravasio Adriano e Rossi Graziano, ''Le collezioni botaniche'', in ''Almum Studium Papiense. Storia dell’Università di Pavia''. Volume 3. Il Ventesimo secolo. Tomo II, Milano, Cisalpino, 2020, .
* Georg Kohlmaier, Barna von Sartory, ''Houses of Glass: A Nineteenth-Century Building Type'', MIT Press, 1986, page 362. .
* A. Pirola, "Orto Botanico di Pavia: dal sistema linneano alle collezioni tematiche", ''Convegno di studio Le reti locali degli Orti Botanici: il caso della Lombardia'', Bergamo, 3 – October 2002.
* G. Pollaci, "L’Orto Botanico di Pavia dalla fondazione al 1942", ''Ticinum'', 6: 20–23, 1959.
External links
Botanical Garden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orto Botanico dell'Universita di Pavia
Botanical gardens in Italy
Buildings and structures in Pavia
1773 establishments in Italy
University of Pavia
Gardens in Lombardy
Pavia