The Bucharest Botanical Garden ( ro, Grădina Botanică din București), now named after its founder,

Dimitrie Brândză Dimitrie Brândză (; 1846–1895) was a Romanian botanist. He founded the Botanical Garden of Bucharest, which is now named in his honor. Brândză was born in Viișoara, Botoșani County. After studying at the Academia Mihăileană in Iași, ...

, is located in the

Cotroceni Cotroceni is a neighbourhood in western Bucharest, Romania located around the Cotroceni hill, in Bucharest's Sector 5. The nearest Metro stations are Eroilor, Academia Militară, and Politehnica. History The Hill of Cotroceni was once covered ...

neighbourhood of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. It has a surface of , including of greenhouses, and has more than 10,000 species of plants. The first

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 Bucharest was founded in 1860 near the Faculty of Medicine by

Carol Davila Carol Davila (; 1828 – 24 August 1884) was a prestigious Romanian physician of Italian ancestry. He is considered to be the father of Romanian medicine. Biography He started from humble beginnings, most probably as an abandoned child, and the ...

. The decree establishing the Botanical Garden was signed by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

Alexandru Ioan Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (Ruler) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as prince of Moldavia on 5 Janua ...

on November 5 of that year. Its first director was the botanist Ulrich Hoffmann, followed six years later by Dimitrie Grecescu. The garden was eventually moved to its current location in 1884 by

, a Romanian botanist, and Louis Fuchs, a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

landscape architect. The gardens were opened in 1891, when the building of the greenhouses finished. The garden was damaged during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when it was used by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

occupation troops, and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, when it was hit by Anglo-American bombardments. In the Garden there is a Botanical Museum in a building of the Brâncovenesc style, located near the entrance gate, where more than 5,000 plant species are displayed, including 1,000 exotic plants. The Old Greenhouse of the Botanical Garden was built between 1889 and 1891, along the lines of the Greenhouses of Liège, Belgium. In 1976 it was closed to the public, continuing to house only crop plants. The Pavilion was rehabilitated in 2011, being arranged as a tropical forest corner and containing species of several exotic plant families.

Gallery

File:Gradina Botanica iunie 2014 IMG 3798 01.JPG File:Bucuresti, Romania. GRADINA BOTANICA. Doua alei in parc. (B-II-a-B-18508).jpg File:Bucuresti, Romania. GRADINA BOTANICA. Bradul in mai. (B-II-a-B-18508).jpg File:Grădina Botanică - lac.JPG

References

External links

Botanical Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Historic monuments in Bucharest 1860 establishments in Romania {{garden-stub