Linnaean System

The Linnaean System is the oldest sector of the Botanical Garden and one of the largest; its size, about 11 thousand square meters, is equivalent to the extension that the garden had in the eighteenth century, at the time of its foundation.

It was planted between 1789 and 1791 by the Franciscan Bernardino da Ucria (1739-1796) according to the classification system described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Nissoln Linnaeus (1707-1778). Today it represents an almost unique example among European botanical gardens, together with the "Linnaeus Garden" in Uppsala (Sweden), different in size and concept.

It is organized into four 'quartini', surrounded by low walls and separated by two orthogonal avenues, the Central Avenue (viale Centrale) and the Palm Avenue (viale delle Palme). These two avenues lead to the four fundamental points of the garden: the ancient entrance (Porta Maggiore), the Carolina Greenhouse (Winter Garden), the Aquarium and the Gymnasium; and they intersect in a small hexagonal square, known as 'Crociera', one of the most evocative points of the Garden with a notable symbolic and historical meaning.

Each 'quartino' is divided by paths into 23 rectangular flowerbeds (ortuli) and houses two Billiemi stone fountains decorated with marble statues, where water lilies and other aquatic plants. Access is via four 'porterine' (small openings with iron gates), each delimited by small pillars surmounted by eighteenth-century decorative vases.

The plants are grouped in the flowerbeds according to the sexual classification system devised by Linnaeus, based on the characteristics of the reproductive organs: number of stamens (male organs) and pistils (female organs) in an increasing sequence from the I to the IV quartine.

Today in the 'quartini' there are about 600 plants, belonging to 489 species of 248 different genera.

The original plant composition has been partially modified over time, some species have sometimes been accidentally replaced by incoherent elements that have become monumental over time. However, ancient finds of great historical and botanical importance are still preserved today.

In the oldest section of the Botanical Garden, the complex irrigation network dates back to the eighteenth century, but has its roots in a much older system: surface irrigation, introduced before the year 1000 during the Arab domination. This ingenious method allows water to be distributed through a system of locks and canals.

The water, taken from a well, is first accumulated in large tanks (locally called gebbie). From here, it is then fed into small wells (risittaculi) to finally be distributed to the flowerbeds through pipes made of tuff (saie) and terracotta (catusi).

It is the gardeners, with their expertise, who complete the work by working the earth and creating canals (cunnutti) and banks (wattali) that form the widespread distribution network. By hoeing and moving the earth they "guide" the water where necessary, ensuring the irrigation of every portion of land.

This historic system has recently undergone a major restructuring, made possible thanks to the funds of the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), the reform and investment program financed by the European Union.