Boboli Gardens in Florence

The Boboli Gardens is the historic park of the city of Florence, built for the Medici family in the 15th century as the gardens of the Pitti Palace. It occupies an area of around 45,000 m² and is certainly the most important example of an Italian-style garden in the world.

It contains a famous collection of sculptures covering an artistic period ranging from Roman antiquity to the 19th century. The name Boboli probably comes from the Borgolo family, from whom Luca Pitti, the first owner, bought some land for vegetable plots in 1418. When it passed to the Medici family, its enlargement began, with the work entrusted to the famous architect, Nicolò Tribolo, and when he died in 1550, to Bartolomeo Ammanati and then to Bernardo Buontalentii.

In 1609, Giulio Parigi and his son designed a second axis, called Viottolone, from which avenues branch out, leading to the lake, embellished with fountains, nymphs, small temples and grottoes. The most valuable of these is the Grotta Grande (Large Grotto), or Buontalenti, created between 1583 and 1593 for Francesco I de’ Medici.


See also: Florence Guided Visits