BOBOLI

THE SECRET GARDEN of THE GRAND DUKE of TUSCANY

Path for Adults

Boboli – The Secret Garden of the Grand Duke of Tuscany is a Walking Tour inside the most famous garden in Florence. The Guided Tour is a special experience in the mysterious world of Eleanor, inherited by her son Francesco I with an initiatory vision. Boboli Garden is the alchemical dream of the prince: is full of sacred meanings, hidden from the hermetic symbols language. The garden, in fact, is filled of statues, grottos, arcane messages and unique scenery. The Egyptian obelisk, dated to Ramesses II era, XIII B. C. is the only Egyptian obelisk in Tuscany: sunlight and phallic symbol, linked to masculine and masonic symbolism. Essential is the presence of water with fountains, ponds and artificial lakes. For Thales: “Water is the principle of all things”, the philosopher Hippo said: “The soul is water”. Belong to the water the deep emotions that flow in surface or disappear underground, ineffable and mysterious. The Grand Grotto is the Francesco I de’ Medici’s dream: it’s the secret desire to dominate and control all the elements. Boboli – The Secret Garden of the Grand Duke of Tuscany is a path for a select few, who will watch the garden with new eyes, as well notorious esoteric like Pythagoras, Paracelsus and Della Porta.

SPECIAL GUIDED TOUR in BOBOLI GARDEN!

Max Fifteen Adults reservation required

• Meeting Point – at Pitti Palace Ticket Office (15 minutes before to start the workshop).
• Duration – 2 hours.
• Day Tour – From Tuesday to Sunday.
• Time Tour – Morning 10 – 12; Afternoon 16 – 18.
• Pricing = Adults: 9 € each (Max 15 People - 6 € each); Family Group 20 € Each (Minimum 4 Families to start the Secret Garden of the Grand Duke of Tuscany).
• Fees excluding the price of entrance tickets .

Boboli Garden Tickets

• Ticket = Adult 10 € until 30\ August\2015 (with exhibition)
• Ticket = 5 € until 30\August\2015 (with exhibition)
• Free for children < 18 and disabled people and carers
• Reductions for UE citizens 18 – 25 years
• ACCESSIBILE

BOBOLI – THE SECRET GARDEN of THE GRAND DUKE of TUSCANY - Story

The green area that today is Boboli Garden complex inside Pitti Palace was acquired by Eleanor of Toledo (Cosimo I de’ Medici’s wife) around 1550 from Pitti family. The original garden name was “Orto de’ Pitti”, that was intended for agricultural production. Eleanor of Toledo wanted to turn it into a proper garden, frame of her residence. She commissioned the project to Niccolò Pericoli called “il Tribolo”, known landscaper, who already made the Garden of Villa Castello. Giorgio Vasari and Bartolomeo Ammannati continued the original design with extensions in mannerist style. At the time of Francesco I, son of Eleanor of Toledo and Cosimo I de’ Medici, the eclectic Bernardo Buontalenti designed the Grand Grotto. In seventeenth century Cosimo II, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, ordered to expand Boboli Garden in a different orientation than the initial project, his favorite architect Giulio Parigi made the new garden plan and Island Pond. Under Ferdinando II Boboli Garden was completed by Alfonso Parigi il giovane, he designed the Amphitheatre masonry. In the eighteenth century, after a short period of decline, Boboli Garden had a new life under Pietro Leopoldo of Lorena with renovations and new buildings: Kaffeehaus, the Lemon House (Limonaia), Meridian Building (Palazzina della Meridiana). From the ancient collections of Villa Medici, in Rome, came prestigious sculptures of classic era to decorate Boboli Garden…

Contact me for your private tour – Francesca Rachel Valle

Florence Guide

• Mobile Phone: +39 380 73 85 327
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