Orto Botanico di Bergamo "Lorenzo Rota"
Civic botanical garden in Città Alta on the Venetian Walls, with over 1200 species and an agricultural section at Astino. Free admission.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Orto Botanico is a municipal institution opened in 1972, the idea of the city's chief engineer Luciano Malanchini and the agrotechnician Guido Isnenghi. The original project aimed to recreate native natural habitats and to stimulate visitors' aesthetic sensibility. For this reason the garden was called the Giardino Botanico Bergomense and named after Lorenzo Rota (1855–1918), the first describer of the flora of Bergamo. For years it was considered an alpine botanical garden and housed the headquarters of the International Association of Alpine Botanical Gardens.
After a period of crisis, with the garden closed to the public between 1983 and 1987, from 1989 it began to work with the Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali “E. Caffi”, which brought scientific rigour to the displays. For a decade the Orto was an integral part of the museum. Since 2004 it has been an autonomous municipal museum entity, recognised by the Lombardy Region.
The Città Alta section occupies a ledge of the seventeenth-century walls, in the Castagneta bastion, on just 2400 square metres with over 1200 taxa. The Orto also includes the Sala Viscontea, an exhibition and workshop space of fourteenth-century origin. At Astino, the Valle della Biodiversità presents an open-air museum on the relationship between plants and people across 9000 square metres.
Highlights
- Over 1200 taxa on 2400 square metres, on the ledge of the Venetian Walls
- Scala dell'evoluzione, a display with tactile panels for blind and partially sighted visitors
- Sala Viscontea, a fourteenth-century exhibition and workshop space
- Astino section, Valle della Biodiversità, with 300 species and at least 1500 varieties
- Seventeenth-century powder magazine “Torresino delle Polveri”
- Free admission
Permanent exhibitions
- Collezioni dell'Orto Botanico di Città Alta – Over 1200 taxa on 2400 square metres, arranged to represent the main categories used by botanists, from lotus to papyrus and from sundew to candelabra cacti.
- Valle della Biodiversità – Sezione di Astino – Open-air museum of 9000 square metres on the relationship between plants and people, with 300 species and at least 1500 agricultural varieties.
- Founded
- 1972
- Operated by
- Comune di Bergamo
- Visitors per year
- approx. 72,328
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
Free admission.
Accessibility
- Partially wheelchair accessible
- Elevator: no information
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome: no information
- Tactile models & exhibits
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
The Orto can only be reached on foot, via the Scaletta di Colle Aperto of 141 steps; the site does not indicate an alternative access. The Sala Viscontea is accessible to people with mobility impairments. The Scala dell'evoluzione has tactile panels suitable for blind and partially sighted visitors.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Getting there & parking
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Amenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | The visit route begins at the foot of the Scaletta di Colle Aperto with the Scala dell'evoluzione, which tells the story of plant evolution. The Sala Viscontea hosts temporary exhibitions, school workshops, lectures and film screenings. The Orto is visited by many school groups and offers guided tours during exhibitions and events. |
