Boboli Garden - Pitti Palace
Boboli Garden - Pitti Palace
museums
Piazza de' Pitti, 1, 50125 Firenze, Italia
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One of the world’s most beautiful and large (45 thousand square meters) gardens stretches behind Palazzo Pitti: the Boboli Gardens. It was begun in 1550 to plans by Tribolo, the inventor of the Italian garden when Cosimo I and his wife, Eleonora di Toledo purchased the palace. Over the coming centuries the gardens were expanded and transformed by many architects (Vasari, Ammannati, Buontalenti, A. and G. Parigi, Zanobi del Rosso, Paoletti and Poccianti). The eighteenth century stone amphitheater with the Egyptian obelisk in the middle was the setting for many famous performances in the past. In addition to comprising an ideal extension of the palace courtyard, it is the perfect starting place for various strolls along the tree-lined paths and avenues, many of which are flanked by ancient or sixteenth-seventeenth century statues. There are many large pools (the Trident Fountain with the statue of Neptune by S. Lorenzi; the Isolotto with Giambologna’s statue of Oceanus in the middle). And there are many grottoes, the most outstanding of which is Buontalenti’s Mannerist oeuvre with sculptures by Giambologna and copies of Michelangelo’s Prisoners. Much work was done in the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries: it included broadening the paths for carriages (this led to the destruction of the old Maze and the area for game) and the construction of new buildings such as the Kaffehaus, the Limonaia, the Palazzina della Meridiana (home of the Costume Gallery) and the Casino del Cavaliere (which houses the Porcelain Museum). The amazing variety of plants, the extraordinary wealth of sculptures, architectural settings and views of the city and its surroundings make a visit to the garden a unique experience for the soul and the senses.
museums
Piazza de' Pitti, 1, 50125 Firenze, Italia
Show on map
One of the world’s most beautiful and large (45 thousand square meters) gardens stretches behind Palazzo Pitti: the Boboli Gardens. It was begun in 1550 to plans by Tribolo, the inventor of the Italian garden when Cosimo I and his wife, Eleonora di Toledo purchased the palace. Over the coming centuries the gardens were expanded and transformed by many architects (Vasari, Ammannati, Buontalenti, A. and G. Parigi, Zanobi del Rosso, Paoletti and Poccianti). The eighteenth century stone amphitheater with the Egyptian obelisk in the middle was the setting for many famous performances in the past. In addition to comprising an ideal extension of the palace courtyard, it is the perfect starting place for various strolls along the tree-lined paths and avenues, many of which are flanked by ancient or sixteenth-seventeenth century statues. There are many large pools (the Trident Fountain with the statue of Neptune by S. Lorenzi; the Isolotto with Giambologna’s statue of Oceanus in the middle). And there are many grottoes, the most outstanding of which is Buontalenti’s Mannerist oeuvre with sculptures by Giambologna and copies of Michelangelo’s Prisoners. Much work was done in the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries: it included broadening the paths for carriages (this led to the destruction of the old Maze and the area for game) and the construction of new buildings such as the Kaffehaus, the Limonaia, the Palazzina della Meridiana (home of the Costume Gallery) and the Casino del Cavaliere (which houses the Porcelain Museum). The amazing variety of plants, the extraordinary wealth of sculptures, architectural settings and views of the city and its surroundings make a visit to the garden a unique experience for the soul and the senses.