During the LIFE CO2toCH4 project meeting held in Padua, the project beneficiaries had the unique opportunity to be guided privately to the world’s first botanical garden created in 1545 and UNESCO world heritage site.
It still preserves its original layout – a circular central plot, symbolizing the world, surrounded by a ring of water. Other elements were added later, some architectural (ornamental entrances and balustrades) and some practical (pumping installations and greenhouses). It continues to serve its original purpose as a centre for scientific research. To name only a few, the visit offered insights on the history of the garden and its creation as a pool of plants used for medical/pharmaceutical use as UNIPD Medical Department is one of the oldest in Europe.
All physically attending beneficiaries were also able to visit part of the premises including two important collections: the library that contains more than 50,000 volumes and manuscripts of historical and bibliographic importance and the herbarium, which is the second most extensive in Italy. Beneficiaries were guided to particularly rare plants collected and grown in the garden from all parts of the world. Currently, there are over 6,000 species, arranged according to systematic, utilitarian and ecological-environmental criteria, as well as thematic collections. The opportunity also to spend time in a lecture room which was fully preserved at its original wooden structure and lay out is really unforgettable.
It was really an exceptional experience shared, highly appreciated by all visit attendants, offered by the meeting hosts of UNIPD, Prof. Stefano Campanaro & Prof. Laura Treu, guided by a very enthusiast and informative post-doc student, Dr Garima Singh.