“Pietro Castelli" Botanical Garden-UNIME| Messina, Italy

Orto Botanico “Pietro Castelli” - Università di Messina

The “Pietro Castelli” Botanical Garden of the University of Messina, founded in 1638, is the oldest in Sicily and one of the earliest in Europe. It was established by Pietro Castelli, a Roman physician and botanist and former director of the Farnese Gardens in Rome. Invited by the Senate of Messina, Castelli created the Hortus Messanensis as a collection of medicinal plants to support medical education and public health. His garden was divided into 14 sections, each organized using an original system of plant classification based on fruit characteristics—an approach considered a forerunner of modern phylogenetic display. Although the original garden declined after political turmoil in the late 17th century, today's botanical garden continues Castelli's legacy by preserving and studying the medicinal and endemic plants he once cultivated.