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Located in the city centre and covering about 2 acres with its lush vegetation, Pietro Castelli Botanical Garden is a small but enchanted arboretum. The particularly mild climate favours many exotic, tropical and subtropical species, which thrive in the open, without needing any protection in the winter.

The history of this place is quite troubled and, in some respects, is intertwined with that of the University of Messina. The garden was established by the physician and botanist Pietro Castelli in 1638 – it was originally named “Hortus simplicium” or “Hortus messinensis” . This green facility was, nonetheless, suppressed together with the University, following the anti-Spanish revolt in 1678. Only the original layout of that naturalistic and architectural jewel has survived: a rectangular plan, divided into 14 sectors called “hortuli” and arranged by Castelli himself.
In 1889, the Municipality of Messina gave some 10 acres to the University, to create a new botanical garden; in 1990, the Superintendency for Cultural and Environmental Heritage took control of the whole vegetable garden and placed a ban on any use other than the institutional one.

Today, the Messina Botanical Garden organizes workshops for children. A barrier-free path for the blind has been recently built using 80 plants labelled with Braille tags and arranged in different themed areas.

Plants

The driveway is made of specimens of Chorisia insignis, Chorisia specios , and Uncarina grandidieri; alongside, there are trees of impressive size, including a centuries-old Ficus macrophylla, and two wonderful specimens of Phytolacca dioica, native to South America, with their typical candlestick appearance.

Summer blooms are abundant: Sterculia acerifolia (red bloom), Tipuana tipu (yellow bloom) from Bolivia, the scented Pittosporum undulatum (cream-white bloom), Acokanthera venenata, and Gardenia thunbergia.
In addition to exotic species, there are several trees and shrubs typical of Mediterranean vegetation.

In the garden, there are two greenhouses: one it’s warm-humid and houses species of the tropical wetlands, including many species and horticultural varieties of the Dionea and Nepenthes genera, and another one hosting succulent and caudiciform plants, as well as a collection of Cycadales.

Several centuries-old trees of great value include specimens of Pinus brutia, Ficus macrophylla, Phytolacca dioica, Ginkgo biloba, and Calodendrum capensis.

Among the collections, there’s the ever-growing one dedicated to Pelargonium, which currently features about 70 species and varieties; it actually includes the first Pelargonium triste to be introduced in Europe and the Pelargonium peltatum.
There is also the “Attar of Roses” and the strange green apple-scented P. odoratissimum .

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)