We have left the oldest part of the garden, and we are heading towards the Biodiversity Garden.

But first, please meet Theophrastus. Here’s his statue, reminding us that the city of Padua apparently has a special talent for connecting past, present and future.

Theophrastus was born in Lesbos in 371. He was a follower of Aristotle and a scholar of botany and physics, also writing essays on medicinal plants. Strange but true, he also seems to have been one of the first vegetarians in Western culture.

Well, if Theophrastus’ studies have survived we have the Renaissance to thank too, and the immense effort made by Humanists to reconnect to the ancient roots of knowledge. Padua was at the forefront of this revolution in thinking. The city embraced the teachings of Galileo; the first truly scientific study of human anatomy came from Andrea Vesalius; and Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia was the world’s first female graduate.