Gelsomino / Jasmine - Acqua di Colonia

Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella’s Gelsomino fragrance is a sweet, delicate, feminine scent. The jasmine plant originated in Persia where it was once used to make a scented oil. Arabs brought it to Italy around the 9th century. In the 16th century Agostino del Riccio, a Dominican monk and an expert in botany and agronomy, said “Francesco I created a hanging garden over the Loggia dei Lanzi and filled it with all sorts of potted lemons, oranges and malagoli.”

This shows us that in medieval Florence hanging gardens and cultivation in pots were already in existence. Tuscan brides used to wear a garland of jasmine flowers on their head for their wedding day. Jasmine symbolizes sensuality.