Villa Hanbury and the botanical gardens

The botanical gardens and Villa Hanbury are located on the promontory of Mortola, in Ventimiglia. The gardens were built starting in 1867, thanks to the passion of the English traveller Sir Thomas Hanbury. After making his fortune as a tea exporter in Shanghai, he decided to settle on the Ligurian coast, and first bought the palace of the Marquis Orengo di Ventimiglia, which still exists, and then the surrounding land, on which he wanted to create a beautiful garden with botanical species collected in every part of the world.