The Boboli Gardens are an elaborate park in central Florence. It is adorned with a range of stunning sixteenth- through eighteenth-century sculptures, garden temples, nympheums, fountains, and private gardens, as well as an array of items from Roman antiquity. These gardens in Florence Italy are a perfect place to escape the bustle of tourist activity, especially if you are traveling within the peak season months of April through October. During these months, tourists outnumber residents in Florence, so it is handy to have a 111-acre park dedicated to the public where you can relax and enjoy a calming couple of hours.

But the Boboli Gardens are far more than just a place to catch some relaxation or take a leisurely afternoon stroll. The Boboli Gardens statues are an immense attraction for tourists to this area, and for good cause. There are actually a number of impressive statues, many of them made by well-known Italian artists. Neptune’s Fountain is one of the most popular of all the Boboli Gardens statues. An artist by the name of Soldo Lorenzi completed the fountain in 1571. The comical Dwarf Morgant by Valerio Cigol displays a fat court midget riding a sea turtle. The Abundance by Sebastiano Salvini, was completed in 1627 and depicts a female goddess gripping bronze grains of wheat. Some of the other most popular Boboli Gardens statues include the Harvest Fountain by Valerio and Giovan Simone Cioni, the Fontana del Mostaccini (or Fountain of the Ugly Faces), and statue of Helen and Paris by Vincenzo de Rossi, located inside the Buontalenti Grotto.

The Boboli Gardens begins behind the famous Pitti Palace and stretch all the way to the Porta Romana. It is the first garden of its kind to be developed in this particular style. Many other Italian gardens would take the lead of this impressive layout, which employs the use of long axes, wide gravel paths, and lots of elaborate statuary, fountains, and classical accents, including grottos and nympheums, which are simply monuments that are offered to the mythical nymphs. When you pass through these refined and elegant gardens in Florence Italy, you will be impressed by the evident attention to detail in everything that you see. The very nature of the outdoor garden set-up for the statues, fountains, and monuments requires constant maintenance and up-keep. Luckily, this is about the only disturbance you are ever likely to encounter in the peaceful gardens. Even on days when it seems the city of Florence may burst at the seams from the very volume of tourists encompassing its boundaries, one can find serenity and tranquility in these beautiful gardens in Florence Italy.

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Two other main attractions that you will certainly want to make a point of seeing when you visit the gardens are the Egyptian Obelisk and the Boboli Gardens Amphitheatre. You can’t go wrong if you simply decide to walk around and take it slowly. Around every corner you will come upon a new treasure that will take your imagination back to a time when Grand Dukes of Tuscany commissioned seemingly impossible urban engineering feats just for the sake of love, as was the case with Cosimo di’Medici and his wife Eleonora di Toledo.