Giardino dei Semplici, Bagnacavallo, Botanical garden in Bagnacavallo, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
The Giardino dei Semplici is the only botanical garden still active in the center of Bagnacavallo, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and sits next to Palazzo Graziani, an 18th-century noble house. The garden is divided into four sections: a shaded area for rest, a fruit orchard, a section with cooking herbs and vegetables, and an area dedicated to medicinal and officinal plants.
Gardens of this type, once called gardens of simple plants, were common in monasteries and noble courtyards across northern Italy, where they served to grow medicinal and culinary herbs. Palazzo Graziani, which stands beside the garden, dates from the 18th century and was expanded in the early 20th century, with frescoed rooms still visible inside.
The garden is also known as Giardino degli Aforismi because iron benches are engraved with quotes by Leo Longanesi, a writer and satirist born in Bagnacavallo. The sentences invite visitors to pause and think, turning a walk through the garden into a small reading experience.
The garden is close to Bagnacavallo's main square, Piazza della Libertà, and easy to reach on foot from the town center. Entry is free, and in summer the garden stays open into the evening, so a visit after dinner is an option.
Among the plants growing here are white sunflowers that can reach over 13 feet (4 meters) tall, a variety rarely seen in Italy and more commonly grown in England. This makes the garden a living archive of forgotten varieties that would be hard to find elsewhere in the country.
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