The Jardin Exotique de Monaco ( French for "exotic garden of Monaco") 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 on a cliffside in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

History

The succulent plants were brought back from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in the late 1860s. By 1895, Augustin Gastaud, who served as the Chief Gardener of the State Gardens of Monaco, grew the succulents in the Jardin St Martin.

Albert I, Prince of Monaco Albert I (Albert Honoré Charles Grimaldi; 13 November 1848 – 26 June 1922) was Prince of Monaco from 10 September 1889 until his death. He devoted much of his life to oceanography, exploration and science. Alongside his expeditions, Albert I ...

acquired a piece of land in

Les Moneghetti Les Moneghetti ( lij, Muneghëti ) is the northcentral Ward in the Principality of Monaco. Moneghetti was incorporated in La Condamine. Overview Situated in an area where the Alps drop into the Mediterranean Sea; Les Moneghetti has steep inclines ...

in 1912. He commissioned Louis Notari, the Chief Engineer of Monaco, to build a new garden with

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

s. During the construction, Notari found a grotto underneath in 1916. Meanwhile, the garden was finished in 1933. Monegasque agronomist Louis Vatrican served as its first director from 1933 to 1969. He added African succulents to the existing South American plants. After he retired in 1969, he was succeeded by Marcel Kroenlein. The grotto was opened to the public in 1950, but it may only be visited with specialized guides. Evidence of prehistoric human inhabitants has been found in the cave. There is a

museum of Prehistoric Anthropology The Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology is located within the Jardin Exotique de Monaco. It was opened in 1902 and contains a collection of fossils and other excavated artifacts relating to the prehistory of Monaco and areas nearby. See also * List ...

within the Exotic Garden displaying many of those prehistoric remains. It was founded by Prince Albert I in 1902.

References

External links

Jardin Exotique website
Botanical gardens in Monaco Protected areas established in 1933 Cactus gardens {{garden-stub