MUSEO ORTO BOTANICO DI BRERA

The Brera Botanical Garden is a romantic green oasis in the centre of Milan, located in the complex of the famous Brera Palace. As a garden it has a secular history: since the 14th century was a place of meditation and cultivation for the Humiliated Fathers of Brera and, since 16th century, for the Jesuits.

In 1774-1775, the’Brera Botanical Garden at the behest of the’Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, thus initiating the scientific and higher education function which today turned two and a half centuries of history!

In 1935 fu attached to the University of Milan, which still runs it today and has made it a recognised museum with over 290,000 admissions each year. From 2023, also associated the’Herbarium Universitatis Mediolanensis, which has a rich heritage of historical herbaria, botanical plates, xylotheques, ...

L'Brera Botanical Garden reveals to the visitor its historic garden characterwith the peculiar 18th-century layout resurfaced thanks to the conservative restoration completed in 2001 and defined by a linear system of dense long and narrow flowerbeds, two striking elliptical pools and a arboretum, redeveloped in the 2018-2019.

In the flowerbeds are kept numerous medicinal species, today as in the past; others are dedicated to topics of pre-eminent human interest (food plants, textiles, dye works) or to particular environments (e.g. Mediterranean, arid or humid environment, undergrowth plants) whose location is due to the microclimate of different garden areas.

There is no shortage of rare or conservation species for the protection of biodiversityin particular indigenous Lombardy. Prominent among the large trees are the patriarchs, two Ginkgo bilobas over two and a half centuries old, garden symbol, and the majestic Caucasian walnut, recognised as monumental tree in 2024.

L'Botanical Garden is a open-air living museum, which offers the public a changing face and a rich programme of educational activities and events.