Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico) — Padova, Italy - World Heritage Sites on Waymarking.com

The Botanical Garden of Padua was founded in 1545 by the Venetian Republic, it is the world's oldest academic botanical garden that is still in its original location.
The garden – affiliated with the University of Padua – currently covers roughly 22,000 square meters, and is known for its special collections and historical design. Six thousand types of plants are currently being cultivated and arranged according to taxonomic, utilitarian, ecological-environmental and historical standards. The systematic collection is concentrated in the four biggest central flowerbeds. Among the utilitarian collections, the medicinal plants are the most important.
The oldest plant is a palm planted in 1585 called the "Goethe palm", because the poet referred to it in his essay "Geschichte meines botanisches Studiums". This tree is situated in a greenhouse inside the Ortus Sphearicus. Other old trees are a ginkgo and a magnolia dating back to the mid-18th century, which are regarded as the oldest specimens in Europe.

Date of Inscription: 1997
Criteria: (ii)(iii)
Property : 2.2 ha
Buffer zone: 11.4 ha
Ref: 824
Criterion (ii): The Botanical Garden of Padua has represented a source of inspiration for many other gardens in Italy and around Europe and has influenced both their architectural and functional designs and their didactic and scientific approaches in medicinal plants studies and related disciplines. Since its foundation, it has been at the centre of a wide network of international relationships, contributing to the dissemination of the various aspects of the medicinal plants and botanical sciences and to the preservation of plant species ex-situ. It also made profound contributions to the development of many modern scientific disciplines, notably botany, medicine, ecology and pharmacy.
Criterion (iii): For more than five centuries, the Botanical Garden of Padua has represented an exceptional testimony of scientific and cultural significance. Its position, size and main characteristics, as well as its main research and didactic features, have remained essentially unchanged over centuries with a constant adaptation to the most advanced discoveries in botanical and educational sciences. Many renowned botanists become ‘Praefectus’ of the Botanical Garden of Padua, leaving evidence of their scientific works in the plants named after them (e.g. the Pontederiacae family in honor of Praefectus Giulio Pontedera).

source: wikipedia, UNESCO