Padua vs. Montpellier: The Origins of Botanical Gardens

As part of “Rendez-vous aux jardins,” a national event organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Jardin des Plantes at the University of Montpellier is hosting the Botanical Garden of Padua for an exhibition at the Orangerie, organized in collaboration with the Friends of the Jardin des Plantes association.

The world’s first botanical garden was established in Padua in 1545; it laid the foundation for botanical gardens across Europe and marked the birth of botanical science, scientific exchange, and an understanding of the relationship between nature and culture. Today, as in the past, it continues to inspire scientific research. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997.

The exhibition will thus serve as a forum for dialogue between these two historic botanical gardens, introducing the general public to the diversity of their roles, both scientific and cultural.

This exhibition will be preceded by a lecture by Prof. Tomas Morosinotto, Director of the Botanical Garden of the University of Padua: “The Botanical Garden of the University of Padua: Research, Conservation, and Communication of Biodiversity,” on Friday, June 2, at 5:30 p.m., in the auditorium of the Fabre Museum.