The statues of Prato della Valle and the Botanical Garden

Walk through Prato della Valle, the largest square in Padua and the fifth largest in the world, accompanied by your guide. You will discover the history of the square, the statues and the buildings that surround it.
The Botanical Garden of Padua is the oldest university botanical garden in the world, a precious treasure chest of medical knowledge, a place of knowledge, research and botanical experimentation, which has played a prominent role in understanding the relationship between nature and culture.
Founded in 1545 at the behest of the Venetian Republic, it has since been continuously enriched with new specimens and species from various parts of the world, placing itself at the center of a dense network of international relations. It exerted a profound influence in the research environment and played a key role in the exchange of ideas, knowledge, plants and scientific material.
It also played a primary role in the introduction of exotic plants that were planted there to be acclimatized and from there then spread throughout Italy and Europe.
The University Botanical Garden is located in the heart of the city, not far from Prato della Valle, between the Basilica of St. Anthony and the Basilica of Santa Giustina, and, for being the first University Garden in the world for the cultivation of medicinal plants, in 1997 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural asset, as "the origin of all botanical gardens in the world," recognized as a true "birthplace of science."
In 2023 it was also enriched by the Botanical Museum, with the valuable collections of the historical Herbarium and the apothecary, which can be observed during the guided tour!

Tour duration: about 2 hours and a half