The Cluj-Napoca Botanical Garden, officially Alexandru Borza
Cluj-Napoca University Botanic Garden ( ro, Grădina Botanică Alexandru Borza a Universităţii Cluj-Napoca), is a
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
located in the south part of
Cluj-Napoca
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
, Romania. It was founded in 1872 by Hungarian linguist
Sámuel Brassai
Sámuel Brassai (15 June 1797 – 24 June 1897) was a Hungarian linguist and teacher sometimes called "The Last Transylvanian Polymath." In addition to being a linguist and pedagogue he was also a natural scientist, mathematician, musician, phil ...
, known as the "Last Transylvanian Polymath". Its director in 1905 was
Aladár Richter, then
Páter Béla,
Győrffy István, and then, in 1920, it was taken over by the local university and by
Alexandru Borza
Alexandru Borza (1887, in Alba Iulia – 3 September 1971, in Cluj) was a Romanian botanist, Greek-Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered colle ...
.
![Cluj-Napoca Botanical Garden - Japanese Garden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Cluj-Napoca_Botanical_Garden_-_Japanese_Garden.jpg)
In addition to its role as a tourist destination, the garden also serves as a teaching and research center as part of the
Babeș-Bolyai University. In 2010, the Romanian Ministry of Culture and National Patrimony categorized it as a historical monument.
The garden is over 14 hectares in area, with over 10,000 plants found throughout the world. It is divided into
ornamental Ornamental may refer to:
*Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration
*Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work
*Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental qua ...
,
phytogeographic
Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...
(
geobotanical), systematic (
taxonomical), economic, and medicinal sections. Romanian
flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
and
vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...
are represented by plants from the
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
n plains, the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
,
Banat
Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...
, etc.
Among the Botanical Garden's interesting attractions are the Japanese Garden (a garden in Japanese style, with a brook and a Japanese-style house), the Roman Garden with
archeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...
remains from the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
colony of
Napoca, among them a statue of
Ceres
Ceres most commonly refers to:
* Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid
* Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture
Ceres may also refer to:
Places
Brazil
* Ceres, Goiás, Brazil
* Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás st ...
, goddess of cereals and bread, alongside cultivated plants that dominate contemporary Romanian agriculture. Jablonovszki Elemér
Jablonovszki Elemér, head gardener
/ref> was its head gardener for 45 years.
History
After the establishment of the first universities, the existing herb gardens beside the monasteries were subordinated to them, gradually forming the true botanical gardens where the botanical sciences with their different branches became study disciplines. Likewise is the case similar with the botanical garden of Alexandru Borza of Cluj-Napoca, and its history has been tied to the Romanian University situated in the capital of Transylvania.
Precursors
In 1872, with the founding of the Franz Josef University in Cluj, the unique botanical department was attached to a vast garden, the attachment having been orchestrated in said park by Count Mikó, the Ardelean National Museum. This was to be later transformed into a botanical garden. A rich collection of trees and shrubs formed the foundation and the promising beginning of a botanical garden. At the entrance of the park was a four-room building, which served as a Botanical Institute and office. The first director, Prof. Dr. A. Kanitz (1872-1896), failed to organize a solid institution. Despite the funds he disposed of having been of minimal value, he could hardly achieve either a systematically medicinal school or a small greenhouse for tropical plants. Consequently, more than three-quarters of space remained unsolved. In 1882, the Institute of Chemistry was built in the middle of the garden. Count Mikó's House was transformed into a Zoological Museum, rather than being used as part of a Botanical Museum. In 1897, when the second director, Prof. Dr. J. Istvánffi (1897-1901) was instated, the building of the Botanical Institute was demolished, the whole garden thereby losing its original meaning despite considerable efforts to raise the garden to Western standards. Until 1901 and the instatement of the garden's third director, Prof. Dr. Aladár Richter, who had rich experience and modern views, the Botanical Garden was endowed with a larger greenhouse. This greenhouse was raised in the outside garden, which had been abandoned until then. At that time Prof. Dr. Aladár Richter was expecting a flourishing era for this cultural institution when suddenly Prof. Apathy placed her new Zoological Institute in the middle of the botanical garden. Thus, with the Institute of Chemistry and Zoology away from its botanical institute, the Botanical Garden could no longer serve the botanical sciences seriously.
After many efforts, director Aladár Richter managed to convince the government of the need for measures to save the garden. In 1910–1912, as compensation for the museum garden, a great land for a new botanical farden was purchased. The chosen territory was corrugated and rugged, rendering it suitable for different cultures and rare landscapes. It was endowed with separate buildings for the director, staff and household.
Professor Richter retired and thus did not personally handle the arrangement of this garden. For lack of funds and initiative, Gyorffy (1913-1919) also did not handle the arrangement, but rather cultivated fruits and vegetables for hospitals and housed the Hungarian refugees in 1916 during World War I. The new Romanian administration was tasked with transforming the orchard of existing fruit trees into a true botanical garden.
Foundation and growth
After the Great Union, a conflict emerged between the newly enlarged Kingdom of Romania and staff at the University of Cluj, which refused to recognise the authority of the Romanian state. Consequently, the university's assets were nationalised and on 12 May 1919 a committee of 14 Transylvanian specialists was appointed to administer these assets. In the area of biology this task fell to Alexandru Borza. In 1920, Borza and Kornél Gürtler devised a plan for a botanical garden.
In 1920 two neighbouring parcels separated by a creek are bought and the landscaping work begins. The marshy land hosting the parcels is drained and a diverse array of seeds are planted.
In 1923 a dam with a reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
and a water tower are built. The water tower is accessible to the public and doubles as a panoramic viewing platform
An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed ...
overlooking the garden. The rocky sections are landscaped for Mediterranean flora
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...
and a Japanese garden
are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...
is constructed.
In 1924 a greenhouse is set up to host palm trees
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
**List of Arecaceae genera
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music
* Palm (ba ...
. New paths through the garden are constructed and paved
Pavement may refer to:
* Pavement (architecture), an outdoor floor or superficial surface covering
* Road surface, the durable surfacing of roads and walkways
** Asphalt concrete, a common form of road surface
* Sidewalk or pavement, a walkway alo ...
.
The official inauguration of the garden takes place on 25 June 1925.
A series of renovation and expansion works take place throughout the 1960s. The most notable are six new greenhouses, paving the garden's main alleys, and consolidation works on the central lake's foundation.
Image Gallery
File:Cluj-Napoca-Grădina Botanică -Alexandru Borza-IMG 1557.jpg
File:Cluj-Napoca-Grădina Botanică -Alexandru Borza-IMG 1562.jpg
File:Cluj-Napoca botanical garden 07 - the water tower.jpg
File:Cluj-Napoca botanical garden 01.jpg
File:2011-Vestigii-DSC03530.JPG
File:Botanic garden - Cluj-Napoca 8.jpg
File:Botanic Garden Cluj-Napoca 4.jpg
File:Cluj GB GRADINA jAPONEZA.jpg
File:Cluj-Napoca botanical garden 05 - the japanese garden.jpg
File:Cluj-Napoca botanical garden 06 - the japanese garden.jpg
File:Cluj-Napoca botanical garden 11 - the glass house.jpg
File:Cluj-Napoca-Grădina Botanică -Alexandru Borza-Statuia lui Alexandru Borza-IMG 1269.jpg
File:Cluj-Napoca botanical garden 08 - the glass house.jpg
References
External links
Cluj-Napoca Botanical Garden
{{Authority control
Botanical gardens in Romania
Tourist attractions in Cluj-Napoca
Archaeology of Romania
Roman Dacia