Museo Orto Botanico
Botanical Garden Institute of Bari was born in 1955, when Faculty of Sciences was given a villa on the outskirts of the city with adjacent agricultural land of 5,000 sqm. The first attempt to create Botanical Garden in Bari was in August of 1813. Gioacchino Murat decreed that each provincial capital should have a Society of Agriculture with adjoining Garden for the testing and production of agricultural and ornamental plants. This Botanical Garden was short-lived, because the return of Bourbon king of Naples forced the company to leave its seat and move to a provisional place. In 1858, after long disputes, City of Bari granted a soil of 52 “moggie” near the coast, where was the building of Economic Society with adjoining Garden. This second attempt failed as result of the annexation of Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to Kingdom of Italy. Then, by the decree of Victor Emanuel II, on February 11, 1886, Company was finally abolished. In 1964, a few years after the founding of Institute, there was a doubling of the surface of Garden up to 10,000 sqm. New area was organized according to ecological system, giving priority to regional flora including aquatic plants.
