Botanical Garden (Krakow)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Botanical Garden, Krakow

The Botanical Garden of the Jagiellonian University (Polish: Ogród Botaniczny Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego ) was established in 1783 in Krakow in the east of the old town and is located in today's II Grzegórzki district ( Wesoła district ), Kopernika Street 27. The facility covers 9.6 hectares of land.

history

At the Jagiellonian University , botany was taught from the end of the 16th century , but the university lacked its own garden. Dr. Casimir Stepkowski made funds available in 1756 to prepare such a university garden. The facility itself was launched in 1783 as a teaching aid for the Faculty of Chemistry and Natural History, making it the oldest still existing botanical garden in Poland. The first glass house was built in 1787. The area was incorporated into Cracow with the suburb of Wesoła in 1800.

The area of ​​the gardens was enlarged several times. The last enlargement took place in the 1950s.

building

The earliest glass house complex, "Victoria", was rebuilt in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1882 the palm house was established. In 1954 a special glass house for orchids was set up.

The administration and work building was built between 1788 and 1792. It also served as a meteorological measuring station and was renovated in 1859. The mathematician and astronomer Jan Śniadecki and the astronomer Tadeusz Banachiewicz worked here . The building, now called Collegium Śniadeckiego , now houses the Botanical Institute of Krakow. On April 1, 1784, J. Śniadecki and J. Jaskiewicz started a research flight in a balloon from here.

Collections

In the middle of the 19th century, the establishment of a comprehensive collection of orchids and other plants began, to which the trips to Central and South America by the botanist Józef Warszewicz (1812–1866) made a great contribution. With around 500 orchid species, this is currently the oldest and largest orchid collection in Poland.

The current collection comprises a total of around 5,000 species from around the world. This includes almost 1,000 trees and bushes as well as over 2,000 types of plants housed in greenhouses. The arboretum, designed as a park, with the collection of trees and shrubs, takes up the majority of the area of ​​the facility. An important collection of maple and oak trees can be found here, including the 230-year-old "Jagiellonian Oak" ( Quercus robur ).

In 1976 the Krakow Botanical Gardens were given monument status.

opening hours

The Botanical Gardens are only open to the public during the summer months from mid-April to mid-October.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jan Adamczewski: Kraków from A to Z. ISBN 83-03-03234-8 .
  2. ^ Polish biographical dictionary, Polish Academy of Sciences. Institute of History (Polish Academy of Sciences), 1994, Volume 35.
  3. ^ Mark Zhukov-Karczewski: Palaces city. The former palace of the Czartoryski (Observatory). In: Echo of Krakow. 123 (13184) 1990.
  4. ^ Kazimierz Szczepanek: Guide to the Botanical Garden of the Jagiellonian. University in the Polish Scientific Publishers, 1985, ISBN 83-01-06432-3 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 3 '44.4 "  N , 19 ° 57' 26.8"  E