the garden's site was formerly a royal palace built 1738-1748 by charles iii of spain, king of naples and sicily. after the bourbons' departure in 1860, today's gardens were founded in 1872 with the royal higher school of agriculture. the park was enlarged by a further 36 hectares at that time, and two ornamental gardens (about 9000 square meters) created, which were then transformed into botanical gardens by nicola antonio pedicino, the school's first botany professor. in 1935 the school became part of the university of naples, and subsequently occupied by allied troops during world war ii, destroying many plants, but from 1948 its collections have been restored and enlarged.