Palermo Attractions

Venue: Botanical Garden    When: Daily; not Sun

Palermo's Orto Botanico (Botanical Garden) was laid out in 1789, along the western edge of Villa Giulia. It is regarded as one of the most important in all of Europe on account of the beauty, rarity and rich variety of the botanical species it possesses, which come from sources all over the world.

The garden is part of the University of Palermo, with didactic and scientific functions, and covers an area of some 10 hectares (250 acres). The gymnasium, the central building looking out towards Via Lincoln, was designed in 1789 by the architect Léon Dufourny, who took his inspiration from ancient Greek architecture. The building is flanked by two sphinxes and topped by statues of the four seasons. The frescoes decorating the interior are by Giuseppe Velasco (1795).

The buildings to the side, the calidarium and the tepidarium, were constructed in 1790-1797 under the supervision of Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia. At the end of the central pathway there is an aquarium containing a number of aquatic plants. Plants that require protection are kept in the Carolina Conservatory, a gift from Queen Maria Carolina - originally a wooden structure, it was rebuilt in cast iron by Carlo Giachery in 1856.

The garden is further graced by the Fountain of Paris, by Nunzio Morello (1838), and two statues dedicated to Discorides and Theophrastus, by Domenico Danè.