A walk through the historic gardens of the city
Florence historic gardens are located in the city centre, but they stretch towards the hills overlooking the river and the city, especially on the left bank of the Arno River.
Here we suggest you an itinerary, which is also a walk in nature: just buy the combo ticket including Boboli and Bardini gardens. It is a good deal to discover two of the most beautiful gardens in Florence and enjoy the city skyline from more points of view. They host both natural and artistic wonders. The Boboli Garden is part of the Pitti Palace complex; it is the garden of the palace featuring lawns, bushes, fountains, statues, panoramic views, grottoes. There are also greenhouses to shelter trees and plants in winter and themed gardens, such as the pineapple and the camellias gardens, where different styles and tastes, designed by the different owners of the palace, create this ideal mixture of art and nature.
The Bardini Garden literally climbs the hill and boasts some top attractions such as the wisteria tunnel, which blooms in spring to delight the numerous visitors with stunning colors and delicious fragrances. Not to be missed the Baroque style stairwell, the terraces withpanoramic views over the city, the bulbous plants adorning the meadows… A place where it is nice to spend the day.
Let’s end our walk in a special site connected with both gardens: the Forte Belvedere. It is not always open, as to explore it we have to wait the summer season when its lawns “with view” become the ideal set for contemporary exhibitions. So, if you have the chance to be in Florence when the Forte is open, don’t miss its green terraces and enjoy one of the most spectacular view over the city.
Comune di Firenze
Die Orte
Etappen
Boboli Gardens
The Medici family was the first to take care of the Boboli garden’s arrangement, creating the model of the Italian-style garden, then an example for many European courts, in which a rational order is given to the vegetation and the geometries of the avenues and plants are embellished with grottoes, statues and fountains.
Opened to the public in 1766, it is a real open-air museum: valuable are the Roman statues and those of Renaissance sculptors such as Baccio Bandinelli and Giambologna; the amphitheatre, where court performances took place; the Grotta del Buontalenti, where Michelangelo's Prisons were placed (now replaced by copies).
Bardini Garden
The garden is an amalgamation of three different properties that are still clearly discernible: the large central Baroque staircase leading to the Belvedere (from here one of the best panoramas of Florence skyline); the English-style wood and the agricultural section next to the medieval city walls. The properties were reunited only in the 19th century, and following a period of neglect the garden and Villa Manadora were purchased by the antiquarian Stefano Bardini, who restored the complex and embellished the garden with decorative features in the eclectic taste of the late 19th century.
The garden s dominated by the Bardini Villa.
Forte di Belvedere
The foundation stone of the Forte di San Giorgio, better known as Forte di Belvedere, was laid in1590, whenFerdinand I wasGrand Duke, and it was built to a design by Bernardo Buontalenti.
Besidesdefending the city from a possible outside attack, a role it was never called upon to fulfil, in the event of danger from within it could be reached from Palazzo Pitti via the Boboli Gardens. Breathtaking panoramas from here!
Inside the fort is the elegant Palazzina di Belvedere, which predates the fort and was probably designed by Bartolomeo Ammanati around 1570. The Palazzina becamethe ‘strongroom’ of the Medici,whokept their treasures in the bottom of a well inside the building; anyone who tried to force the locks would trigger a trap that would impale them.
The building is elegant and in a wonderful, panoramic position, it often hosts art exhibitions.
