The Giardino della Minerva is a terraced medieval garden tucked into the hillside above the old town, reached by a flight of stone steps from Via dei Mercanti. It was established in the thirteenth century as a physic garden for the physicians of the Schola Medica Salernitana — the first medical school in Europe — and its terraces were planted with the herbs and medicinal plants that formed the basis of medieval medicine. The garden fell into disrepair over the centuries but was carefully restored in the 1990s and is now one of the most atmospheric small gardens in southern Italy.
The terraces rise in steps, each planted with a different category of medicinal plants, many of them labelled with their historical uses. Stone water channels carry fresh water down through the levels, and the whole garden is shaded by citrus and aromatic trees that make it a cool retreat on hot days. Views from the upper terraces extend across the rooftops to the sea. The adjacent museum traces the history of the Schola and the medical tradition it represents, with reproductions of the famous illustrated manuscripts that were produced here. It is an unusual and genuinely surprising place — nothing quite like it exists elsewhere in Italy.