Boboli Gardens (Giardino di Boboli)
Together with Pitti Palace, in 1550 the Medici bought the Boboli gardens behind the building. The name of Boboli is thought to come from the prior owner.
Nicolò Pericoli, called the "Tribolo", was called in to transform the area into one of the most spectacular Renaissance gardens. Pericoli worked at what he called his "green architecture" masterpiece until he died.
With the intervention and mannerist inventions of famous artists like Buontalenti (who created the Large Cave), Michelangelo (whose Prisons decorated the four corners of the Cave itself, before being replaced by concrete copies and transferred to the Academy Gallery) and Giambologna, Boboli became a model for all European Royal gardens, including those in the Palace of Versailles.
Besides the above mentioned Large Cave, you should visit the Amphitheatre, the Basin and the Island Tank, originally meant for the cultivation of flowers and citrus fruit trees, one of the gardens most evocative scenarios.
The amazing Boboli Gardens are one of the most elegant and magnificent examples of Italian-style gardens. Its design, originally simple and regular was, in the 17th century, transformed into a much more complex and elaborate composition, and its look today is the result of later additions and makeovers.
In the immense greensward in which natural and constructed architecture meld into one another, a true open-air museum has been created. Along its fascinating paths, among ancient statues, spectacular fountains and mysterious grottoes, you can catch a glimpse of the spirit of life at court, besides enjoying a truly breathtaking scenario.