Vatican Gardens

The Vatican Gardens (Italian: Giardini Vaticani) are urban gardens and parks covering more than half of the Vatican City in the south and northeast. There are some buildings within the gardens, such as Radio Vatican.

They cover approximately 4000 hectares (57 acres which is most of Vatican Hill. The highest point of the gardens is about 60 meters (200 feet) above mean sea level. Stone walls bound the gardens in the north, south, and west.

The Vatican Gardens were established during the Renaissance and Baroqueeras, and were and still are decorated with fountains and sculptures. As of 2009, several underground springs under the gardens aren't currently in use. There is a wide variety of plant species, and the area is considered a biotope.

History
Tradition says that the site of the gardens were spread with earth brought from Golgotha by Saint Helena to symbolically unite the the blood of Christ which was shed by thousands of early Christians, who were persecuted by the Roman Emperor, Nero. The Vatican Gardens date back to medieval times, when orchards and vineyards extended north of the Papal Apostolic Palace. In 1279, Pope Nicholas III (Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, 1210/1220-1280) move his residence back to the Vatican from the Lateran Palace and closed this area with walls. Here, he planted an orchard (pomerium), lawn (pratellum), and a garden (viridarium).

The gardens received a major re-landscaping in the early 1500s, during the papacy of Julius II. Donato Bramante's original design was split into three new courtyards, the Cortili del Belvedere, the "della Biblioteca" and the "della Pigna" (or Pine Cone) in the Renaissance landscape design style. Also in the Renaissance style, a rectangular labrynth, which was formal in design, set in boxwood, and framed with Italian stone pines (Pinus pinea) and cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani). In the place of Nicholas III's enclosure, a rectilinear defensive wall was built. The Vatican Gardens today are spread over about 23 hectares (57 acres), containing a variety of medieval fortifications, buildings and monuments from the 9th century and present day, set amongst bright, vibrant flower beds and topiary, green lawns and a 3 hectares (7.4 acres) patch of forest. There are several fountains spreading freshness over the Vatican Gardens, while sculpture and artificial grottoes proclaim devotion to Mary, and an olive tree donated by the government of Israel extends its three green branches.