A hospital visit to Pisa promoted a visit to the world’s oldest botanical gardens which are next door. The incessant rain only added to the atmosphere of this secret corner of Pisa so near to its more famous tower.

Founded in 1543 by the naturalist, physician and botanist Luca Ghini (1490-1556) Pisa has the first university botanical gardens in the world.

Originally situated on the banks of the Arno River the gardens were transferred to its current site in 1591 and then progressively expanded to its present size of approximately two hectares.

The gardens house plants from five continents: succulents from African and American deserts;

aromatic plants of the Mediterranean maquis; species from the Tuscan marshes

and many secular trees including this giant sequoia..

The Botanical Museum is the successor to the gallery, founded in 1591 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando I de’ Medici. It still retains the picture gallery of seventeenth-century portraits of illustrious botanists, the original entrance gate to the Gallery and the “Studiolo” for the seeds of the botanical garden. It also houses items related to the teaching of university botany since the end of the eighteenth century such as the botanical models in wax and plaster of species like fungi. Other collections include plant samples, botanical tools and paleobotanical collections.

We passed an enjoyable hour spent under a gentle rain and it made us feel very lucky to be able to appreciate a botanical feast after the rigours of a hospital visit.