Established in a former Etruscan necropolis area, where in the 15th century Braccio Fortebracci created a drill-ground and where in the 18th century the Accademia degli Arcadi met, the current layout with parallel lanes and monumental holm oaks dates back to the 18th century. The amphitheater, built between 1778 and 1780, is closed in at the centre by the triumphal arch designed by Baldassarre Orsini (1791), the pediment of which gave the name to the gardens. 

The six statues depicting the Arts are from the Mussolini era. In the square opposite the gardens stands the monument dedicated to June 20, 1859, by Giuseppe Frenguelli (1909), to commemorate the bloodsheds caused by the Swiss troops in fighting the insurgents against the pontifical rule – an important episode of Perugia’s Risorgimento.