The main Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden, officially known as the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Komarov Botanical Institute's Botanical Garden of Peter the Great (russian: Ботанический сад Петра Великого Ботанического института им. В. Л. Комарова РАН (in short Ботанический сад БИН РАН); since 1823 Emperor's Botanical Garden "Императорский Ботанический сад", originally Apothecary Garden "Аптекарский огород"), is the oldest
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 ...
in Russia and the best-known one out of botanical gardens of Saint Petersburg, the other two belonging respectively to Saint Petersburg State University and Saint Petersburg Forestry Technical University. It consists of outdoor and indoor collections situated on
Aptekarsky Island
Aptekarsky Island (russian: Апте́карский о́стров, , "Apothecary Island", fi, Korpisaari, "Deep Forest Island") is a relatively small island situated in the northern part of the Neva delta. It is separated from Petrogradsky Isl ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and belongs to the
Komarov Botanical Institute of the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
. It is 18.9
ha in area, and is bordered by Aptekarsky Prospekt (main entrance), Prof. Popov Street (second entrance), as well as the embankments of the
Karpovka
The Karpovka (russian: Ка́рповка) is a small river of the Neva basin in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It separates Aptekarsky Island (right bank) from Petrogradsky Island (left bank). The Karpovka flows from the Bolshaya Nevka to the Malaya ...
and
Bolshaya Neva
The Great Neva or Bolshaya Neva () is the largest armlet of the river Neva. It starts near the Spit of Vasilievsky Island (easternmost tip of the island).
The Great Neva is long; the width is from and the depth up to . Its tributaries are Font ...
rivers.
Overview
The garden was founded by
Peter I Peter I may refer to:
Religious hierarchs
* Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus
* Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint
* Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...
in 1714 as a
herb garden in order to grow
medicinal plants
Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection ag ...
and re-established as a botanical institution under the name Imperial Botanical Garden in 1823, with assistance from
John Goldie.
Ivan Lepyokhin was in charge of the botanical garden from 1774 until 1802. Beginning in 1855,
Eduard August von Regel was associated with the garden, first as Scientific Director and then as Director General (1875–1892). Regel had a particular fascination with the genus ''
Allium'', overseeing collections of these plants in the
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...
and writing about them in two monographs. More than 60 of the alliums he identified bear his name, e.g., ''A. giganteum'' Regel and ''A. rosenbahianum'' Regel.
Many alliums can be viewed in the Northern Yard of the garden. In 1897
Constantin Georg Alexander Winkler
Constantin Georg Alexander Winkler (14 June 1848 in Medvedevo near Velikiye Luki – 3 February 1900 in Wesenberg) was a Russian botanist of Baltic-German heritage.
From 1871 to 1874 he studied botany at the University of Dorpat, where from ...
became head botanist at the garden. He then reorganized the herbaria and greenhouse collections. Around 1900,
Boris Fedtschenko became head botanist and he organised investigations of various Russian regions including Siberia, Caucusus, Middle Asia and Asiatic Russia. All published in various volumes and books.
[ David G. Frodin ]
In 1930, the garden became subordinate to the
Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union and, in 1931, was merged with the Botanical Museum into the
Botanical Institute.
Greenhouses
The garden has 25 greenhouses constructed in 1823–1824. They are numbered from 1 to 28 (No. 5 and No. 25 don't exist; No. 10 and No. 11 are shared). Some of them are open to the public (guided visits only), including the large collections of
azalea
Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octob ...
s and other
Ericaceae (No. 6),
fern
A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...
s (No. 15),
cacti
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
and other
succulent
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...
s (No. 16), various tropical plants (No. 18), the 23.5 m high Big Palm Greenhouse with an important collection of
orchids (No. 26) and the greenhouse with a pond containing ''
Victoria amazonica'' (no. 28). The night blossom of cactus ''
Selenicereus grandiflorus'', cultivated there since 1857, is a celebrated event announced in mass media and open to the public in the 16th greenhouse in June-July. The indoor collections suffered significant losses during the
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...
in 1941-1944; out of 6367 species only 861 survived.
The chain of greenhouses encircles the Southern Yard and the Northern Yard, the latter featuring an extensive outdoor collection of
Iridaceae
Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises, meaning rainbow, referring to its many colours. There are 66 accepted genera with a total of c. 2244 species worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016). It include ...
and
bulbous plants, including many species of ''Allium''. The building of the botanical museum faces the Northern Yard in place of the non-existent greenhouse No. 5.
Park
The outer park includes a small rock garden (constructed in the end of the 19th century) located in front of the Big Palm Greenhouse, and a 0.16 km² arboretum, organized partly as an
English garden and partly as a
formal garden
A formal garden is a garden with a clear structure, geometric shapes and in most cases a symmetrical layout. Its origin goes back to the gardens which are located in the desert areas of Western Asia and are protected by walls. The style of a forma ...
. The park, unlike the greenhouses, is closed for visitors from October 1 to May 8. It is elevated only 1.5-3 m above sea-level and has thus regularly suffered from
catastrophic floods characteristic of Saint Petersburg. The herbarium edifice built in 1913 stands in front of the main entrance.
Gallery
Image:Northern_Yard_St._Petersburg_Botanical_Gardens.jpg, Northern Yard, Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden with greenhouses and '' Allium'' garden
Image:Allium_moly,_Saint_Petersburg_Botanical_Garden_Northern_Yard.jpg, ''Allium moly'' in the Northern Yard, Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden
Image:Bust_of_Eduard_Regel,_Saint_Petersburg_Botanical_Garden.jpg, Bust of Eduard Regel in botanical museum, Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden
Image:Botanical_research_laboratory,_Saint_Petersburg_Botanical_Garden.jpg, Botanical research laboratory, Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden
Image:Palm_Greenhouse,_St._Petersburg_Botanical_Garden.jpg, Palm Greenhouse, St. Petersburg Botanical Garden
See also
*
*
References
{{Reflist
Sources
*Путеводитель по оранжереям Ботанического сада. Тропики. / Отв. ред. Н.А. Аврорин и Н. Н. Имханицкая. – Leningrad: Nauka, 1978.
*Ботанический сад. Leningrad: Lenizdat, 1989.
*Соколов В.С., А.А. Федорова. Ботанический институт имени В. Л. Комарова Академии наук СССР. Leningrad, 1947.
*От аптекарского огорода до Ботанического института. Leningrad: Изд-во АН СССР, 1957.
*BGCI
Arboretum of Komarov Botanical Institute in Saint Petersburg, Russia
External links
Botanical collections of Russia and the adjacent states Database (designed for Internet Explorer only)
Botanical gardens in Russia
Parks and open spaces in Saint Petersburg
Tourist attractions in Saint Petersburg
Greenhouses
1714 establishments in Russia
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg