The Botanical Garden of Siena

Among the most evocative and particular attractions of Siena there is the Botanical Garden in Via Pier Andrea Mattioli 4 , two and a half hectares of plants direct heirs of what was the Orto dei Semplici, a vegetable garden of the seventeenth century which was annexed to the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala and which was used to cultivate curative and pharmacological plants.

The current garden instead consists of a large complex in which stands out the so-called School composed of two artificial terraces filled with medicinal plants.

The school then enters the Park which presents all the main plants of central-southern Tuscany with flat paths, sloping, stairways and benches.

From the paths you then enter a greenhouse of tropical plants that dates back to the late nineteenth century and then come to the so-called Podere, a wonderful space with vines, olive trees, a rock garden and a fern.

There is also a pond full of hydrophytes and a pond with two small pools to preserve and produce endangered Tuscan aquatic plants such as the magnificent and wonderful White Waterlily.

The Botanical Garden together with the Museum of the Academy of Fisiocritici is an example of the ability of the City of Siena to finance works and studies of high scientific and cultural value in the past.