FROM THE MINERVA GARDEN IN SALERNO TO CIRCA INSTANS ILLUMINATED HERBARIA: A VIRTUAL PATH WITHOUT BOUNDARIES

In the hearth of medieval Salerno, close to the Fusandola waterstream and the ancient walls, a terraced historical garden is found: the Minerva garden. This structure developes along the horticultural corridor that from the Villa Comunale move up toward the Castello di Arechi. A great number of documents (collected in the Mater Herbarum. Fonti e tradizione del giardino dei semplici della Scuola Medica Salernitana, volume) confirm that this garden was the first botanical garden in Europ for the cultivation and harvest of medicinal plants. Peculiarity of the garden is the distribution of plants that follows the antique principles of “humors” and “degrees” that are found in the ancient Salernitan literature. Back in time, two salernitan pharmacopeae were prepared; the Tractatus de herbis (usually referred to as the Circa Instans, and the Liber Pandectarum Medicinae, (known as the Pandetter), prepared in the early years of the XIV^th century by Matteo Selvatico. They both were the guidance for the reconstruction of garden, both in reality and in the virtual tour.