For the past few weeks, it has been possible to take an extraordinary journey through the history of botany and plant biodiversity. To take part in this unique adventure, it only takes about twenty minutes by car to reach the city centre of Padua and discover the new Botanical Museum inside the famous Padua Botanical Garden.

Why the Botanical Garden Museum is well worth a visit

This exhibition space was opened in mid-February 2023 and is located in what was the home of the prefect of the Botanical Garden until the mid-20th century. It has an exceptional collection of botanical specimens from the 19th and 20th centuries: 800,000 specimens of dried plants, algae, fungi and lichens, a collection of 16,000 test tubes containing seeds of food, medicinal and ornamental species, 19th-century educational panels, fungus models and wood sections.

A selection of this marvellous archive is on display in the Museum, with the aim of reconstructing the history of the Botanical Garden, its key players and its plants from its foundation in 1545 to the early 20th century.

Treasures of the Botanical Museum of Padua

The section that most interests visitors is undoubtedly the Herbarium Gallery where a selection of 136 specimens are exhibited, bearing witness to the dense network of plant and seed exchanges that the Garden had with the whole world.

Also of outstanding interest is the Spezieria (apothecary’s shop), an area with the furnishings of an old rural apothecary’s shop including vases, bottles, spatulas, mortars, scales and other objects that tell of the apothecary’s work. 

“A Lesson in Botany” is a room in which are exhibited: 

• nine educational panels printed in Germany in 1899 depicting as many exotic plants; 
• 19 trunk sections used as teaching material; 
• the Centurie, or seed boxes representing the biodiversity of the Italian countryside over a century ago; 
• two collections to represent the different fungus species.

The Botanical Theatre is the fourth important area of the museum, located in a recently restored botany classroom, which hosts the screening of the film written and directed by Denis Brotto: Goethe. The life of leaves.

Lastly, the Botanical Museum also houses: 

• five interactive, digital installations such as “Botany without Frontiers”;
• a map highlighting the Garden’s links with the rest of the world; 
• a series of ancient books; 
• a trunk of Vitex agnus-castus dating back to the late 16th century;
• two educational quizzes.

Access to the Museum is included in the tour and entrance ticket to the Botanical Garden. The latter is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and includes an exhibition of 3,500 plant species and the Biodiversity Garden exhibition project. 

The reception staff at the Hotel Tritone will be happy to assist guests who want to immerse themselves in this lush, ancient world.

To book a stay at Hotel Tritone and, at the same time, visit the Botanical Garden of Padua, you can write to us here or call (+39) 049 8668099