Botanical Garden - In 1820 the Duchess Maria Luisa of the house of Bourbon, decided to create a botanical garden for scientific purposes and established an experimental laboratory in collaboration with the University College of Lucca, under the direction of Bernardini Orsetti, inside the walls, between Gate Elisa and the Gate of Saint Peter, in the area known as the Roman "Piaggia"; burial place for the executed, the interdicted and the heretics, and later in the 16th and 17th centuries used as football fields.

Throughout the years the garden has enriched its collection of rare and exotic plants which were planted also in the parks of the villas of the local nobility. A small lake adorns the garden, rich in local fauna, where legend has it that here the young, beautiful Lucinda Mansi met her death, drowned in it by the devil for having broken her pact with him.

A rich variety of plants, typical of the mountainous area in the Lucca zone, including medicinal and culinary plants can be admired here, whilst in the Botanical Museum precious, ancient herbaria are kept and thousands of dried samples of vegetables. Of particular interest are the monumental green-houses, all restored; an interesting library preserves priceless botanical texts which confirm the scientific and educational competence which the Botanical Gardens have clearly testified since their inauguration. ... from "Lucca" (Apt Lucca)