Along the seafront to the east and southeast of the Porta Felice extends the Foro Umberto I, a broad boulevard with magnificent views of the Bay of Palermo.
On warm evenings, it seems as though half of Palermo is enjoying a stroll here. At the southern end of the Foro Umberto I is the beautiful Villa Giulia park, also known as La Flora, laid out in 1777.
On the west side of this, the Botanic Garden (Orto Botanico) has a magnificent variety of plants, including date and coconut palms, banana trees, and fine stands of bamboo and papyrus.
The garden, one of the most important in Europe, covers 11 hectares, and between its beds and hot-houses contains more than 12,000 species of plants from all over the world
