Florence By Area >> Oltrarno

Piazza de' Pitti
Tel. 055 294 883

Open: June-Aug: 8:15am-7:30pm daily, Apr, May, Sept and Oct: 8:15am-6:30pm daily; Nov-Feb: 8:15am-4:30pm daily; Mar: 8:15am-5:30pm daily.

Closed: 1st & 4th Mon of the Month; 1st Jan, 1st May, 25th Dec.

Museo degli Argenti & Museo delle Porcellane Open: 8:15am-1:50pm daily.

The Boboli Gardens were laid out for the Medici in 1550, one year after they bought the Palazzo Pitti. A perfect example of stylized Renaissance gardening, they were opened to the public in 1766. The more formal parts of the garden, nearest the palazzo, consist of box hedges clipped into symmetrical geometric patterns. These lead to wild groves of iles and cypress tress, planted to create a contrast between artifice and nature. Statues of varying styles and periods are dotted around, and the vistas were planned to give views over Florence.

Key Features:

La Grotta Grande
The casts of Michelangelo's Quattro Prigioni are built into the walls of the Mannerist folly (1583-93), which also houses Vincenzo de' Rossi's Paris with Helen of Troy (1560) and Venus Bathing (1565) by Giambologna.

Amphitheatre
Stone for the Palazzo Pitti was quarried here and the hollow was turned into a stage for the first ever opera performances.

L'lsolotto (Little Island)
The centrepiece of the moated garden is Giambologna's Oceanus Fountain (1576). The original statue of Oceanus has been moved to the Bargello.