The University of Turin has a museum heritage, often little-known outside the usual tourist route. Its university collections include objects and artifacts used to prove academic theories, gathering evidence and teaching students through field lessons.
Gathering to prove. This has always been common to humans since ancient times. Historically, collecting has always been linked to teaching, mostly in the field of natural science. Teaching collections begin when a culture begins: from Hortus medicus of Chinese emperor Sheng Nung, to the gardens of Pharaohs and Assyrian Kings, from the museum-school of Ur to the botanical gardens of Aristotle’s Lyceum and of the ptolemaic Museion.
Turin’s Botanical Garden is the oldest university museum in Turin: it was founded in 1729 by Vittorio Amedeo II and has almost 300 years of history. The Garden was designed for cultivation and culture: cultivating a large number of plants, and informing about their properties, their uses and their characteristics.
Only recently, since 1997, the museum has opened its doors to the general public, not only academic. According to the website of the Institution, about 8,000-10,000 people of all ages visit the Botanical Garden every year. Going through the Grove, the Alpine Garden, the Garden, the Tropical Greenhouse, the Succulent Greenhouse and the New Greenhouse, visitors can find a variety of scents, colours and biodiversity.
Many events are held during summer in order to experience the idyllic setting of the open-air museum. The programme includes thematic tours, food&drinks, and readings.
The events of the Botanical Garden
Guests of the Botanical Garden
Saturday, June 23,2018 – 5 PM
Sunday, June 24, 2018 – 11.30 AM and 5 PM
The guided tour will show the animals living in Turin’s Botanical Garden.
It is held every last weekend of the month.
Reading in the Garden
Wednesday, June 27, 2018 – 5 PM
Three artists, Maura Banfo, Jessica Carroll e Paolo Leonardo, will break the natural silence of Turin’s Botanical Garden with a series of short readings.
Evening tour of the Botanical Garden
Friday, July 6, 2018 – 7 PM
Guided tour of the Botanical Garden at twilight, learning about plants and animals in the Grove.
Plant of the month
Saturday, July 7 – 5 PM
Sunday, July 8 – 11.30 AM and 5 PM
Guided tour among plants blossoming in July, with interesting facts, history facts and uses.
Bees and Honey
Sunday, July 15 – from 10 AM to 7 PM
Tour dedicated to bees living in the Garden. Includes honey tasting.
Movie Your Mind
Friday, July 20, 2018 – 8 PM
First event in the 2018 Summer Edition of Movie Your Mind film festival, with opn-air screening and food&drinks in the Garden.
100 useful plants
Saturday, July 21 – 5 PM
Sunday, July 22, 2018 – 11.30 AM and 5 PM
“100 useful plants” is a guided tour, held every third weekend of the month. July’s tour will be dedicated to food, textile and dyeing plants which marked the development of human civilization.
Stay updated on the upcoming events, go to the Botanic Garden‘s facebook page!
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