Aptekar garden
The Aptekarsky garden is the oldest botanical garden in Russia. The garden was founded in 1706 by Peter the Great to grow medicinal plants.
The Botanical Garden constantly attracts more and more people, arranging all kinds of excursions, exhibitions, seminars, photo shoots, and even has its own theater, which gives up to 30 performances per season. More than 50 species of animals live in the expanses of the Apothecary's garden, such as turtles, fireflies, cats, finches, ducks, thrushes, Japanese carp, sterlets. Cats, by the way, are descendants of those cats that Peter I. The symbol of the garden is the "Main Flower Cat", which is addressed only as "His Floral Majesty".
All activities in the Apothecary's Garden are related to plants. For example, ikebana exhibitions are held here with the assistance of the Japanese Embassy. An open-air exhibition of architectural installations is being held with the support of the Moscow Architectural Institute. Since 2011, the S.A.D. Theater has been operating, and in the summer the Classic Open Air Moscow festival takes place, where you can see performances by soloists from leading theaters. There is also a jazz festival and exhibitions of macro photographs taken at the Aptekarsky Garden. In September and October, the Colors of Autumn festival is held, at which time you can see the works of various artists in the garden, visit the harvest and flower exhibition.
The botanical garden has preserved all the details planned back in the 18th century, and some of the trees are over 250 years old. Among them stands out the larch, which, according to legend, was planted by Peter I and the white willow, considered one of the oldest trees in Moscow.
Walking through the Apothecary's garden, you can see an ancient pond built in the 18th century. Its bottom is covered with several layers of clay, and the shore is decorated with coastal plants and trees. The "Shadow Garden" contains shade-tolerant plants, of which there are over 150 varieties. Another part of the garden is called "Heather Hill", where heather crops grow: blueberries, lingonberries, heather, cranberries, rhododendrons, blueberries. To get to the tropics, you don't have to travel far, just get into the Palm Greenhouse, built in 1891. There is a rich collection of plants from the tropics. It is also worth noting the huge collection of orchids, of which there are over 800 species in the garden.
