Public+and+private+gardens

Early Muslims were pioneers in establishing botanical gardens and plant collections. By the ninth century the art of botany had become a major subject and influence on the art of poetry. Gardens became one of the largest poetic themes. Early Muslims everywhere made earthly gardens that gave glimpses of the heavenly garden to come. Long indeed would be the list of early Islamic cities which could boast huge expanses of gardens. A few examples of these are: Basra: described by the early geographers as a veritable Venice, with mile after mile of canals criss-crossing the gardens and orchards Nasbin: a city in Mesopotamia, was said to have 40,000 gardens of fruit trees Writers also speak endlessly of the garden of Spain. In the cities of Seville, Cordoba and Valencia the gardens are the heart and soul of Islamic Spain. The rulers had some of the most spectacular gardens. For example, the Huerta del Rey in Toledo, and many other Taifa kings in Spain. It was in stocking their gardens with rare and exotic plants that many rulers gave full reign to their collecting instincts.A very important recent discovery, of al-Udhri, relates that al-Mu'tasim, a Taifa king, who brought many rare plants to his garden in Almeira; these, we are told, included banana and sugar cane. The gardens in the Al-hambra serve as the patio to the city. In present times the Only many centuries later did Europe possess similar botanical gardens which helped to make it the same kind of medium for plant diffusion that the Islamic world had been in the Middle Ages.International Dance Festival is held at the gardens in the Al-hambra. The gardens also served as a summer house to the rulers that were living there. Thus the gardens of the medieval Islamic world, and particularly the royal gardens, were places where business was mixed with pleasure, science with art. Only many centuries later did Europe possess similar botanical gardens which helped to make it the same kind of medium for plant diffusion that the Islamic world had been in the Middle Ages.