The botanical garden covers an area of about two hectares and has approximately two thousand different species of plants, which are organised in sections.

The current director is Francesco Sartori.The Botanical Garden stands in the place where the church of Saint Epiphanius was located, of which it preserves the cloister of the 15th century.

In 1772, Count Karl Joseph von Firmian, Plenipotentiary of the Habsburgs for Lombardy, recommended the use of the Padua Botanical Garden as an example.

[4] Nocca Domenico organized and expanded the garden 1797–1826, adding collections to exchange seeds and plants, and building a masonry greenhouse to replace the earlier wooden structures.

The garden was extensively damaged in World War II, after which its greenhouses were relocated to the main building's south side.

The reserve was donated to the University of Pavia in 1967 by Giuseppe Negri, a timber trader and great lover of nature.