Aug 26, 2008, 15:35 GMT
Florence - Enter the Boboli Gardens in Florence and suddenly the noise and hordes of tourists of this Tuscan city are gone.
Enter the Boboli Gardens in Florence and suddenly the noise and hordes of tourists of this Tuscan city are gone. Credit: Amishah
Even though the gardens are located in downtown Florence, they have managed to maintain an other-world-atmosphere that harks back to the Medici family and young nobles playing hide-and-seek among the trees.
For hundreds of years, the Medici family was one of the most powerful dynasties in Italy. They helped finance the papacy and in some few cases even became popes themselves.
They were also patrons of the arts employing Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo. Florence, Venice and Genoa would be culturally and economically poorer without the Medicis.
The Boboli Gardens were one of their creations. They were laid down for Grand Duke Cosimo I. de' Medici and his wife Eleonora da Toledo in the mid-sixteenth century behind the Pitti Palace.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the gardens were enlarged and restructured, turning them into a green oasis combining different styles and tastes.
Fountains, sculptures, artificial grottos and long cypress tree avenues are some of the main features that await visitors looking for something beyond the Uffizi Gallery and the Basilica Santa Maria del Fiore.
It's easy to forget the hubbub of the city while strolling among the lemon trees or walking by the Okeanos fountain by Giambologna and wallow in 'dolce far niente' (doing sweet nothing).
Surprisingly one famous visitor to Florence spent hardly any time here at all. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had just three hours to take in the sights when he passed through the city in 1786 during his 'Italian Journey' on his way to Rome.
'I passed through the city in haste: the cathedral, the baptistery. This place is a completely new and, to me, unknown world where I do not want to linger. The Boboli Gardens are blissful. I hurried out as quickly as I went in,' he later wrote.
Goethe missed plenty such as the amphitheatre situated on a hill directly behind the Pitti Palace. At it's centre stands an Egyptian obelisk from Luxor surrounded by statues of figures from ancient mythology.
A stroll at the rear of the palace will reward you with one of the most beautiful views of Florence which appears so close you could almost touch its domes, bell towers and the imposing Palazzo Vecchio.
The Boboli Gardens in Florence
OPENING HOURS: The gardens are closed to the public on the first and last Monday of the month, but otherwise open from 8:15 am. During the summer, they close at 7:30 pm. In April, May, September and October the gardens stay open until 6:30 pm. In winter from November to March they tend to close earlier. There are several entrances, but if you want to visit the gardens only, you can avoid the long queues at the ticket office by using the gate at the Forte Belvedere on Via Romana or the entrance at Piazzale di Porta Romana.
ADMISSION: Tickets costs 11.50 euros (17 dollars) including access to the Pitti Palace. Admission just to the gardens costs 6 euros (9 dollars).
INFORMATION: Florence Tourist Office, Via A. Manzoni 16, I-50121 Firenze (Tel. +39/055/29 08 32).
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