The Modena Botanical Gardens was founded in 1758 by Duke Francesco III d’Este who set aside a part of the garden for the exhibition of medicinal plants. The Public Chair of Botany in aid of the Faculty of Medicine and Aromatic Herbs was set up around 1765. There are numerous botanical collections including the garden of Count Cattaneo of Novara, which dates back to 1796. A programme of exchange of 126 Botanical gardens through out the world was started in 1820 and it was then that the gardens were richly enhanced by the Herbarium set up by De Brignoli.
