When in 1549 Eleonora di Toledo acquired Palazzo Pitti, she bought also the adjacent land belonging to Boboli family, the Boboli hill with stunning view of Florence.
The garden has been designed by Tribolo,the student of Michelangelo, and after his death the work was finished by Ammannati.
The park is one of the most spectacular examples of Italian garden architecture. Most of trees and bushes are planted according to the geometric design following the English style,
the last part of the garden has irregular planted oak trees and cypress valleys, the longest one called Viottolone adorned with dozens of Classic sculptures leads to the artificial island L’Isolotto with copy of famous fountain of Okeanos ( original one by Giambologna is displayed in Bargello ).
Some other fountains in the garden are: Fontanna del Carciofo ( 1641 ) , Fontanna del Bacho and Fontana di Neptune.
The most spectacular building in the garden is La Grotta Grande, an artificial cave once with running water with various sculptures, including copies of Michelangelo’s Prisoners ( original ones were moved to Bargello).
Among the other buildings are the greenhouse, Baroque Kaffeehouse ( 1776 ) with working cafe inside and ‘Casino del Cavaliere’ now changed into the Porcelain Museum.
The deposits of red stone from the Giardino were used in 16th century for enlargement of Palazzo Pitti. The excavations have been changed to the amphitheatre, which became the place of first Italian opera performances, starting from La Pellegrina in 1589.
The entrance to the garden is through the Palazzo Pitti, and from Via Romana, the gate from Forte di Belvedere is usually closed.
Giardino di Boboli
Piazza de’ Pitti,
50125 Firenze,
(Toscana), Italy
Phone: +39 055 2298732
