The Arboretum du Sarroudier (60 hectares) is a new

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

now taking shape in the village of Le Mas,

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Its stated goal is to create the largest private arboretum in France. The arboretum was founded in 2005 by Sauveur Gaëtan Mareschi on the grounds of a disused sheep farm owned by

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monks of the

Lérins Abbey Lérins Abbey () is a Cistercian monastery on the island of Saint-Honorat, one of the Lérins Islands, on the French Riviera, with an active monastic community. There has been a monastic community there since the 5th century. The construction ...

. Its hilly site is about 780 meters above sea level. Some 30 hectares have been designated for the arboretum proper, including a pond, with an adjacent 9 hectares set aside for growing organic vegetables and ancient fruit varieties.

References

Arboretum du Sarroudier
* ''Nice-Matin'' (newspaper), "Infos Villages", July 8, 2007, page 10. * French Wikipedia article Gardens in Alpes-Maritimes Sarroudier {{France-garden-stub

See also

References