The Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the city of Geneva () is a museum and an institution of the
City of Geneva.
Establishment and location
It was founded in 1817 in a former area of ''Bastions Park'' in 1817 by
Augustin Pyramus de Candolle
Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candoll ...
. The Botanical Gardens were transferred to the Console site (192 rue de Lausanne) in 1904, constructed by the Genevan architect Henri Juvet in 1902–1904 specifically to house the
Delessert herbarium held at Bastions. The collection grew in 1911–1912 with the gift of the Emile Burant herbarium, then again in 1923–1924 with the posthumous donation of the de Candolle herbarium. In its present location, it occupies an area of adjacent to
Lake Geneva
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and the park of the
United Nations Office at Geneva
The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...
and ranks as one of the five most important in the world. The gardens themselves were designed by . The Botanical Garden's greenhouses initially remained at the Bastions site for financial reasons. Then, in 1910–1911, the architect Henri Juvet built a Winter Garden along the former Chemin de Varembe, which was moved to its present location close to the railway lines following the construction of the
Palais des Nations
The Palace of Nations (french: Palais des Nations, ) is the home of the United Nations Office at Geneva, located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was built between 1929 and 1938 to serve as the headquarters of the League of Nations. It has served ...
and the various associated urban redevelopments that took place. The elegant glass and iron structure is in line with constructions of this type in fashion in the second half of the 19th century. It originally comprised two adjacent but separate sections: the Winter Garden and a greenhouse, creating an asymmetrical effect. A symmetrical wing was added to the first in 1935. The greenhouses at Bastions were removed to make way for the
Wall of the Reformers.
Collections
The botanical garden includes a living collection of 14,000 species of 249 different families from around the world, and a historical
herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...
of nearly 6 million botanical specimens. The library of over 220,000 volumes.
The living collection is divided into several sections: an arboretum, rock gardens and banks of protected plants, medicinal and useful plants, greenhouses, horticultural plants (including a "garden of scent and touch"). The garden also incorporates a
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...
dedicated to conservation and the ''Botanicum'' (a family space) near the lake.
The ''
Index Herbariorum'' code assigned to the herbarium of this botanic garden is G and it is used when citing housed specimens.
The botanical garden produces ''Candollea'', (Organe du Conservatoire et du Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève). An international peer-reviewed journal that publishes original scientific papers, preferably in English but also in French. Published since 1922, yearly since 1924. It is named after Augustin Pyramus de Candolle founder of the garden.
National classification
The entire garden, including greenhouses, libraries and collections, and two mansions "Le Chene" and "La Console", is registered as a cultural asset of national importance.
Activities
The institution has a special interest in the medicinal plants of
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
, with about 5000 known plants thanks to the legacy of the
Guaraní people
Guarani are a group of culturally-related indigenous peoples of South America. They are distinguished from the related Tupi people, Tupi by their use of the Guarani language. The traditional range of the Guarani people is in present-day Paraguay b ...
, preserved by the
Jesuit
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, founders ...
missions and the collections of
Emil Hassler. The Paraguayan Ethnobotany Project was established in the mid-1990s in collaboration with the
Botanical Garden and Zoo of
Asunción
Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay.
The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...
. This collaborative framework has facilitated the creation of a large herbarium of Paraguayan medicinal plants and the creation of the ' (Center for Conservation and Environmental Education: CCEAM), located within the Botanical Garden of Asunción.
Organic status
From 1 January 2015, under leadership of head gardener Nicolas Freyre and Director
Pierre-André Loizeau, the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens became 100%
organic, the first public garden in Switzerland to formally meet the standards of
Bio Suisse
Bio Suisse is the main organisation of organic agriculture in Switzerland. This umbrella organization counts 33 organic farmers' associations among its members, as well as the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL. It notably manages the ...
. Although previously almost entirely organic, a bachelor student from the
validated the requirements. In 2017 the garden will be able to display the Bio Suisse 'Bud' certification label on completion of the required qualification period.
References
External links
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Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
Museums in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
Museums established in 1817
1817 establishments in Switzerland
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Geneva
Education in Geneva
Tourist attractions in Geneva