Gardens' tour: Boboli and Bardini
One of the things that you can do in Florence is a walk with a private guide into the Boboli Gardens on the back of Pitti Palace and then into the Bardini Gardens that offer suggestive views at the same level of the Michelangelo's terrace, one of Florence tourist attractions.
The park hosts centuries-old trees, sculptures, fountains and offers peaceful shelters from the warm Florentine sun in the summer, the beautiful colors of the changing foliage in the fall and smells of blooming flowers in the spring.
The Boboli Gardens
The Boboli hill was bought by Messer Luca Pitti in 1418, who probably commisioned the Pitti palace to Brunelleschi; in 1549 the property became the Medici family's royal city residence.The original plan of Boboli gardens was drawn by Tribolo and completed by other architects, including Vasari, Ammannati and Buontalenti.
The Medici and the Lorraine families continued to enrich and enlarge the gardens in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries generating an outdoor museum, the scenographic setting to exhibit both Roman and Renaissance statues. Along our walk, you will discover the highlights of the gardens, in particular the Amphitheatre, the “Viottolone”, the Garden of the Cavaliere, the Koffeehouse and the Grotta Grande.
The Bardini Gardens
We enter i Giardini Bardini (the Bardini Gardens) after we skirt the ramparts of the imposing Forte Belvedere (Belvedere Fort) an area that originally belonged to the wealthy Mozzi family, since the mid-1200's, and it eventually came to be owned by Florentine antiquarian, Stefano Bardini, who used it not only as a garden but also as an open air showroom for his extraordinary antique sculptures, fountains and architectural elements.
Today, after a massive restoration project, the Gardens offer breathtaking views of the city of Florence from its paths and terraces, surrounded by seasonal plantings originally planned by Bardini himself.
- Duration: 3 hours
- Entrances: Boboli and Bardini Gardens
- Operates: daily (Closed: first and last Monday of each month, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December)
- Admissions not included in the tour rate
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