The first period extends from 1638 to 1674.
It is the golden age of the University of Messina, which in 1638 issued a decree establishing a botanical garden, from Hortus Mesanensis, which was, for life and housing, one of the best botanical gardens of the time. But in 1674 the Messini rebelled against the Spaniards who returned in 1678 and suppressed the university and deliberately destroyed the botanical garden.
The second period refers to the interval 1678-1838.
During these years in Messina there is no real university. The university lives a kind of informal life through cultural associations and academies with special activities or only partially recognized. In order to preserve plant life, some private botanic gardens, frequented by scientists, have emerged in this period, most recently later to teach at the reborn university.
Finally, the third period of 1838 to this day.
With the Bourbon Decree of 1838, the University of Messina was born again, and after a few years the problem of the new botanical garden began to worsen, and was later founded in fact. In this period, Messina hit the disaster of December 28, 1908; a new strong shock to the whole university, and thus to the new plant garden that is still affected by the direct and indirect consequences of the unforgettable earthquake.
