JARDINS EXOTIQUE
Photo Essay
The Jardins Exotique de Monaco
If you ever find yourself in Monaco, in this hilly city crawling up the cliffs, there is one thing really worth the visit - The Jardin Exotique de Monaco. The botanical garden which grows along the edge of a rocky hillside of Monaco-Ville, overlooking the Rock of Monaco, the Port of Monaco, Monte Carlo and Italian coast in the vast distance.
I found myself there on one heavy, warm and humid September afternoon. It was that weather when jacket is too much, but shirt is too little and you end up putting it off and on. Heavy dark skies blurred into the white creamy fog hanging right above the tallest cactuses. Different heights, textures, shapes. Growing there for over 100 years, in this salty humid weather, flourishing.
This astonishing mature exotic gardens contain more than 1000 species of cacti and succulents from around the world, mostly come from south America, Mexico and Africa. The plants have been incorporated into the rock of the cliff in a way that looks completely natural and allowed the plants to age and grow to incredible sizes. Towering along the cliff since 1933, the original collection dates back all the way to 1860’s, when Augustin Gastaud brought some of these succulent plants from Mexico. The garden itself was founded by Albert I., prince of Monaco, in 1912, when he boughtt piece of land in Les Moneghetti and begin the construction of new garden with footbridges.
VISIT
Admission charges: 7.20 EUR / adults; 3.80 EUR / children; under 4 years free (The admission price includes admission to the cave and the anthropology museum)
Open: January, November and December: 09.00 to 17.00 // February, March, April and October: 09.00 to 18.00 // May to September: 09.00 to 19.00 (The garden is open every day except 19 November (National Holiday) and 25 December)
Address: Jardin Exotique de Monaco, 62 Boulevard du Jardin Exotique, B.P.105 MC 98002, Monaco
Taidekappeli is located on the island of Hirvensalo, far outside the city. Surrounded by spruces and pines, where the wooded hills rise from the flat fields.