Giardini di San Paolo, Park in Parma, Italy
The Giardini di San Paolo is a public park in the center of Parma, occupying the grounds of a former monastery. The green space grew out of what was once the kitchen garden and vegetable plot of the monastic complex.
The monastery that enclosed this garden was founded in 985 and run by Benedictine nuns who cultivated the land for food and medicinal herbs. After religious orders were suppressed in the 19th century, the grounds fell into neglect before being repurposed and eventually opened to the public after World War II.
The Giardini di San Paolo can be entered directly from the street or through the Guanda library next door. Walking through the garden, visitors can still spot old stone features that once belonged to the monastery complex.
The garden is open every day until the evening and free to enter. Visitors with extra time can also stop by the Guanda library next door, which offers a second entrance into the gardens.
Some of the rooms inside the old monastery next to the garden were painted by Correggio and Alessandro Araldi in the 16th century. These decorated spaces, known as the Apartments of the Mother Superior and the Cell of Santa Caterina, sit just steps away from the garden paths.
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