The Botanical Gardens and Herbariums represent - despite their obvious differences - a museum of the plant world . Both born in the 16th century, they initially had an eminently didactic function , linked in particular to the teaching of medical botany, allowing students to observe and study medicinal plants.

Today many others have been added to this use, with an evolution closely linked to the development , or decline, of botanical sciences. In the case of Bologna , this evolution has always continued at the same pace, so much so that the major collections of the Herbarium are due precisely to those who were the main directors of the Botanical Garden.

Founded by Ulisse Aldovrandi , the Botanical Garden of Bologna is one of the oldest in Europe , second to those of Padua, Florence and Pisa . Fundamental to the creation of the garden as we know it today was the contribution and work of the botanist Luca Ghini (1490-1556), who later became Aldovrandi 's successors.

The Botanical Garden of Bologna with its hibernacle, preserves exotic plants during the winter. Some neoclassical greenhouses were added in 1765 and only in 1803 was the garden moved to its present position.