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Created in 1545 on the property of the Benedictine monks of St. Justina, Padua Botanical Garden is the oldest existing university botanical garden in the world. The Senate of the Venetian Republic approved its foundation for the cultivation of medicinal plants, which later constituted the largest portion of the so-called “simple” herbs, i.e. medicaments of natural origin. This is why early botanical gardens were called Horti simplicium (“Gardens of Simples”).

In ancient times the identification of medicinal plants by botanists was uncertain, and frequently led to mistakes and even frauds, which caused great damage to people’s health. The institution of a Horto medicinale, prompted by Francesco Bonafede, who held the chair of “Lecturer of Simples”, enabled students to identify true medicinal plants. The first “custodian” of the Garden, Luigi Squalermo, called Anguillara, introduced and cultivated a large number of species (1,800). In spite of severe punishments (fines, imprisonment, exile), the Garden was often targeted by thieves, who stole many rare plants, due to the large profits that could be obtained from them. A circular enclosing wall was soon built (hence the names Hortus sphaericus, Hortus cinctus, and Hortus conclusus). The Garden was constantly enriched with plants from all over the world, particularly from countries where the Venetian Republic had possessions, or with which it traded. This is why Padua played such an essential role in the introduction and study of several exotic species.

The Garden has witnessed the evolution of botany from a science originally applied to medicine, to an independent science with various branches. The library, the herbarium, and several laboratories, were later added. Just like other similar university institutions in Italy and abroad, not only does the Botanical Garden provide an opportunity for the general public to learn more about plants, but it is also a resource for scholars, and it aims at preserving rare and endangered plant species.

Padua Botanical Garden is the original of all botanical gardens throughout the world; it represents the birth of science, of scientific exchanges, and of the awareness of the relationship between nature and culture. It gave a great contribution to the development of many modern scientific disciplines, notably botany, medicine, chemistry, ecology, and pharmacy.

The Scrovegni Chapel, dedicated to St. Mary of the Charity, frescoed between 1303 and 1305 by Giotto, upon the commission of Enrico degli Scrovegni, is one of the most important masterpieces of Western art. The frescoes, which narrate events in the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ, cover the entire walls. On the wall opposite the altar is the grandiose Universal Judgement, which concludes the story of human salvation.

The chapel was originally attached to the Scrovegni family palace, built after 1300, following the elliptical outline of the remains of the Roman arena.

The Chapel was acquired by the City of Padova in 1880, and the vulnerable frescoes were subjected to several specialized restoration operations during the 19th and 20th centuries. From the 1970s until today, thanks to close collaboration between the city administration, cultural heritage authorities and the “Istituto Centrale per il Restauro”, the state of the building, the quality of the air in it, polluting factors, and the state of conservation of the frescoes themselves have all been subjected to careful study and monitoring. The addition of the new access building, with its special air-conditioned waiting-room, means that even great influxes of visitors can enter the Chapel and admire Giotto’s masterpiece without further jeopardizing its fragile condition in any way.

The latest checks, which show that the condition of the frescoes is now stable, have allowed them to be restored further – delicate operations undertaken by the “Istituto Centrale per il Restauro” – thanks to an agreement between the City of Padova and the “Italian Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali”.

From July, 2021, the Scrovegni Chapel is included on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites, in the Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles.