Gardens of the Vatican

The Vatican Gardens is a huge park in the Vatican state, occupying more than half of it, and this is neither more nor less than 20 hectares. They are located in the west of the state.

Mostly the gardens cover the Vatican Hill. Limit the territory of the gardens Vatican Walls. In the territory there are many springs, fountains, luxurious subtropical vegetation.

The most luxurious lawns in the Vatican Gardens are located in front of St.Peter's Cathedral and the Vatican Museums. They were created in the Renaissance and Baroque.

In addition to man-groomed gardens, there are also natural sites. The most interesting is between the building of the Vatican administration and Leoninskaya wall. Here, just overgrown with a variety of trees - pines, oaks, palms, cypresses and so on.

The oldest garden in the Vatican is located at Pius 4, the construction of which began at Paul 4, but ended already at Pius 4 in 1558. However, back in 1288, here on the orders of Nicholas 4, his personal physician grew medicinal plants. Of course, nothing has been left of them for a long time, but there are several long pine-trees, whose age ranges from 600 to 800 years, as well as Lebanese cedars, which are 300-400 years old.

How to get into the Vatican Gardens?

Since the Vatican is a separate state, you need to purchase separate tickets for visiting the Vatican Gardens. And if earlier the only opportunity to get here was a preliminary entry on the excursion as part of the tour group with a guide, then recently it is allowed to visit the gardens en masse on Eco-buses for 28 people. The trip lasts an hour, and at this time the audio guide tells the story in English, German, Spanish, French or Italian.

Such tourist buses run in the morning from 8.00 to 14.00 every day, except on Sundays and public holidays. They are sent every half hour.