The garden was started in 1544 under Cosimo I de' Medici as the first university botanical garden in Europe, and it was put under the care of the famous botanist Luca Ghini of Imola. In 1563 the garden was moved from its original place near a river (now the Medicean Arsenal) to one near the convent of Santa Marta. In 1591 the garden was again moved to a third place, where it still is. From these early times, the garden has contained a gallery of natural objects (now Pisa's Museo di Storia Naturale), a library (now part of the university library), and portraits of its directors throughout the centuries. It also includes one of the earliest iron-framed hothouses built in Italy.