BOBOLI GARDEN TOUR – FLORENCE

“The Boboli Gardens” are one of the most important examples of Italian Renaissance gardens. Endowed with a conspicuous botanical and architectural heritage, “the Boboli Gardens” can be considered as a true open-air museum. It represents is one of the most important and oldest examples of formal Italian gardens in the world, centered on tree geometry and the skillful insertion of statues, grottoes and monumental scenographic pools. It can be described as a true open-air museum, both in terms of its architectural and landscape setting and its sculpture collection, as well as its ancient botanical collection, which boasts otherwise dispersed species and varieties. Begun in 1549, to a design by “Niccolò Pericoli”, known as Il Tribolo, for Duchess Eleonora di Toledo, “the Boboli Gardens” are one of the greatest examples of Italian gardens. It took shape on the slope of the hill behind, which was geometrically subdivided by arranging trees and flowerbeds in a regular and symmetrical manner. It was decided to start immediately with the planting of hedges, trees, rare and wild plants and the construction of fountains, in a great ferment of ideas that would make Boboli one of the most significant gardens, worthy of a grand ducal residence. One of the first major works was the creation of the “Grotta di Madama”, built between 1553 and 1555, with the intention of recreating naturalistic environments, populated by mysterious stone creatures and animals. Between 1583 and 1593, under the direction of Bernardo Buontalenti, the large Boboli grotto, known as the “Grotta del Buontalenti”, took shape in the place of a nursery designed by “Vasari”. The cave was built to great scenic effect: limestone concretions in the form of stalactites, shells and terracotta reliefs, to which the water flowing down the walls gave vibrancy and color.The Statue of Abundance, begun by “Giambologna” and finished by Pietro Tacca, dominated the whole complex. Under “Grand Dukes Cosimo II and Ferdinando II de’ Medici”, the Garden was enlarged by Giulio and Alfonso Parigi, extending southwards, parallel to the Palazzo, within the circle of the walls. The direction was given by a central avenue, the Viottolone, at the end of which Alfonso Parigi designed a large elliptical pool with a central island, both populated by statues of fantastic and mythological figures; Giambologna’s monumental statue of the Ocean was moved to the center of the island. In the second half of the 18th century, under the Grand Duchy of Pietro Leopoldo di Lorena, the first of a series of remarkable interventions were commissioned, with architects such as Gaspare Maria Paoletti, Giuseppe Cacialli, Pasquale Poccianti and Zanobi del Rosso. The Limonaia, on the other hand, was built on the site where “Cosimo III” had the animal menagerie built, where exotic animals of the most varied species were kept. The new building was used to shelter citrus fruits already collected by the Medici in the 16th century.

Join us in this extraordinary Boboli garden tour between art and culture!