The first botanical garden was established back in Italy in 1545 when Venetian scholars and government officials implemented a botanical garden at the University of Padua, shortly after granting Francesco Bonafede's petition for the creation of a botanical garden back in 1543. Bonafede taught the 'lettura dei simplici,' or study of medicinal plants, and he recognized a need for the direct observation of nature in this branch of learning. 

Accordingly, Bonafede approached the rector of the universitas artistarum (which taught medical and botanical disciplines), requesting that a public garden be opened for the cultivation and study of medicinal plants and herbs – the so-called ‘semplici’ (medicamentum simplex). The request came before the Senate of the Venetian Republic, which in 1545 decreed that a suitable plot of land should be purchased. Padova’s Botanical Garden is the oldest university garden in the world, and it's retained its original location and layout over the centuries.

Since 1997 the Botanical Garden has been part of the Unesco World Heritage List as a cultural landmark. The listing was justified by Unesco on the following grounds: “The Botanical Garden of Padua is the original of all botanical gardens throughout the world, and represents the birth of science, of scientific exchanges, and understanding of the relationship between nature and culture. It has made a profound contribution to the development of many modern scientific disciplines, notably botany, medicine, chemistry, ecology, and pharmacy."

https://www.unipd.it/en/botanical-garden