The Boboli Gardens (Giardino di Boboli)

The Boboli Gardens (Giardino di Boboli) are rich and extravagant pleasure-gardens with photogenic views over Florence. Designed by the Grand Dukes as a venue for extravagant parties and celebrations, the gardens are dotted with statues, fountains and a variety of features commissioned specially, or taken from the fabulous Medici art collections. The Boboli Gardens spread over the steep hillside behind the vast Pitti Palace, over the Arno from central Florence.

Among the highlights are: a lake with an ornamental island garden at its centre; a variety of wooded hillside pathways; the central water features in a green amphitheatre facing the palace and the Neptune Fountain. The grandest of the Boboli's grottos is the spectacular Grotta di Buontalenti: peering through the bars at the entrance you can see three successive 'caves' festooned with decorations, ornamental stalagtites and sculptures by Michelangelo and Giambologna.