Hidden Milan - Orto Botanico di Brera. Just behind the Pinacoteca di Brera and down a long internal alleyway you come upon the Brera Botanical Garden.The garden was established in 1774 by Abbot Fulgenzio Witman under the direction of Maria Theresa of Austria, transforming an existing Jesuit garden to serve students of medicine and pharmacology. The garden was restored in 1998 after a long period of neglect and decay.
Orto Botanico di Brera. The garden consists primarily of rectangular flowerbeds, trimmed in brick, with elliptical ponds from the 18th century, and specula and greenhouse from the 19th century (now used by the Academy of Fine Arts). It contains one of the oldest Ginkgo Biloba trees in Europe, as well as mature specimens of Firmiana Platanifolia, Juglans Nigra, Pterocarya Fraxinifolia, and Tilia.
Orto Botanico di Brera – detail. Each plant has its own marker.