Bergamo Botanical Garden "Lorenzo Rota"

Bergamo, Italy, Italy

---

The Bergamo Botanical Garden "Lorenzo Rota," officially known as Orto Botanico di Bergamo "Lorenzo Rota," is a small botanical garden located at the top of the Scaletta di Colle Aperto stairway in the Città Alta (Upper Town) of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy, covering 2,400 square meters (some sources cite 1,357–1,750 square meters).

Established in 1972 through the efforts of head engineer Luciano Malanchini and agro-technician Guido Isnenghi, the garden was named in honor of physician and botanist Lorenzo Rota, who was the first scientist to describe and classify the flora of Bergamo. The garden houses more than 900 to 1,200 different plant species, including endemic Orobie species, carnivorous plants (particularly Drosera carnivora), aquatic plants, herbs, Mediterranean plants, and unusual exotic species, arranged in micro-habitats that reproduce or evoke natural environments.

The garden can only be reached on foot by climbing a 141-step staircase from Colle Aperto, but the effort is rewarded with a unique panoramic view sweeping over the rooftops and monuments of Upper Bergamo and the foothills of the Bergamo region. Since 1989, the botanical garden has been part of the Museum of Natural Sciences of Bergamo and was officially recognized as a Museum in 2004.