The Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg is one of the most popular places in the city, its attraction and pride. Currently, it is called the Botanical Garden of the V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and earlier it was given the name of the Imperial Botanical Garden.
This corner of nature simply attracts lovers of greenery and plants. Its visitors are residents and visitors of the city. The Botanical Garden is a unique creation that combines gentle care and labor of people, flowering and the beauty of nature.
History
The Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg was founded by decree of Peter I in 1713 as the Pharmaceutical Garden, in which it was necessary to grow herbs and plants used in medicine. It was located on Raven Island, which was later renamed Pharmaceutical. The territory gradually increased, now the modern garden occupies more than 16 hectares. Since its inception, the Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg has been closely interacting with various medical, scientific and educational organizations and enterprises of the country, it holds lectures for university students, creates exhibits and excursions for preschool children.
At the beginning of the 19th century, it was in a deplorable state, there were few plants - only about 1,500 species, there were only two departments — the botanical and the medical. In 1823, the garden, it was decided to rename the Imperial, so work began on its reorganization and improvement. In addition, new plants were discharged from abroad, buildings were rebuilt and reconstructed, the territory was ennobled.
A little later, a museum and a library appeared. The Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg was used not only for medical, but also for scientific activities. At the end of the XIX century, his employees made expeditions around the country for plant samples, scientific goals began to be of paramount importance.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg belonged to the USSR Academy of Sciences, and the created Botanical Institute was engaged in its development and arrangement. Moreover, scientific activity has gained wide scope. USSR scientists worked on the development of suitable conditions for different plants, problems of growth and acclimatization. During the Great Patriotic War, the garden suffered from bombing and suffered huge losses. Almost the entire collection of flora was lost, especially rare tropical species of plants, palm trees, greenhouse flowers and much more. In wartime, the boiler room was damaged, and all heat-loving plants died forever. Only a few species that were saved by the employees were saved: rare specimens were taken to apartments or left in a small greenhouse, which was heated by stoves. In the post-war period, the garden was gradually restored. Of course, it took a lot of time and was worth the incredible efforts of all the staff and just caring people.
Departments of the Botanical Garden
For a more successful functioning, all activities carried out in the Botanical Garden are divided into different departments and areas of activity. The Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg is not only a park, but also several greenhouses, in which tropical and subtropical climate plants are represented, the arboretum is the pride of the garden, numbering several thousand species of trees, a herbarium collection of hundreds of herbaria created by botanists on over the years.
The garden has its own museum, which displays exhibits of thousands of rare and fossil plants. The museum is replenished with exhibits so far, many biological biologists of different years, prominent scientists and botanists have contributed to it. The number of exhibits exceeds 80 thousand! The library has more than 600 works. The seminary of the Botanical Garden was created to compile a catalog of seeds and extracts from abroad of plants and flowers. A biological laboratory studies the properties of various plants. Since 1901, the Botanical Garden began to publish its own magazine. Its name was changed several times, but in 1933 they decided to combine it with the publication "USSR Botanical Journal". Later it was finally called the Botanical Journal.
Visiting Rules
Various exhibitions and events take place year-round, but depending on the season they are held in different departments. You can visit the Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg throughout the year, and in any season it will leave an amazing impression. In the summer, it is breathtaking from the flowering of thousands of plants, rare and exotic. In autumn, the park dazzles with the beauty of colorful leaves, in the winter there are magnificent greenhouses.
Educational excursions offer a guided walk in the park and greenhouses, unaccompanied only the park can be visited from May to October.
Excursions
Excursion groups are formed as 15 people accumulate - this is convenient for guests. You can book excursions in advance. The most popular of them are “Plants of the tropical regions of the Earth”, “Plants of the subtropical regions of the Earth”, “Walk along the arboretum”, the Palm greenhouse and the Water greenhouse. Botanical Garden (St. Petersburg) - photos of visitors to the tour are simply unforgettable and amaze with their beauty and splendor of plants and flowers.
Opening hours and cost
The Botanical Garden (St. Petersburg) is open all days of the week, from 11 to 16 hours. The only exception is Monday. For inspection of open ground plants from 10 to 18 hours the Botanical Garden (St. Petersburg) was opened . The price of tickets depends on the purpose of the visit: just a walk in the park costs 40 rubles for an adult ticket, entrance to the greenhouses - 220 rubles. Photos and videos are also paid, from 90 rubles and above.
Replenishment of collections and expeditions
From the beginning of its foundation, the Botanical Garden replenished its collections only with the help of foreign countries - seeds and seedlings were purchased in England, Germany, Holland. Since 1830, special expeditions have been undertaken by scientists in the Transcaucasus, the Caspian, Baku and Kamchatka regions to replenish the collections of the garden and to promote scientific activity. From overseas trips brought plants from the island of St. Helena, Rio de Janeiro, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Brazil.
The Botanical Garden took an active part in the equipment not only of its own expeditions, but also expeditions of other societies and organizations. In addition, plants were brought here by many travelers voluntarily - from the Tien Shan ridge, Issyk-Kul, from the Ussuri Territory.
One of the recently acquired plants that the Botanical Garden is proud of is sakura brought from Japan. Plans for the near future are to create a unique Sakura Alley.