Aptekar garden
Aptekar Garden is the oldest botanical garden in Russia. The garden founded Peter I back in 1706 to grow medicinal plants.
The botanical garden constantly attracts more and more people, arranging all kinds of excursions, exhibitions, seminars, photo shoots there is even its own theater, giving up to 30 performances per season. Over 50 species of animals live on the expanses of the Aptekar Garden, such as turtles, ogars, cats, finches, ducks,birds, Japanese carps, sterlades. Cats, by the way, are descendants of those cats that Peter I had. The symbol of the garden is the "Main Flower Cat", which is accessed only as "His Flower Majesty".
All activities in the Aptekar Garden are associated with plants. For example, with the assistance of the Japanese Embassy, ikebana exhibitions are held here. An open-air exhibition of architectural installations with the support of the Moscow Architectural Institute is held. Since 2011, the S.A.D. Theater has been operating, and in the summer the festival "Classic Open Air Moscow" is held, where you can see the performances of soloists of leading theaters. There is also a jazz festival and exhibitions of macrophotographs made in the Aptekar Garden. In September-October, the festival "Paints of Autumn" is held, at this time in the garden to see the work of various artists, to attend an exhibition of crops and flowers.
Separate details planned back in the 18th century have been saved in the botanical garden, and the age of some trees is over 250 years old. Among them stands out a larch, which according to legend was planted by Peter I and a white willow, considered one of the oldest trees in Moscow.
Walking around the Aptekar garden you can see an old pond built in the 18th century. Its bottom is steeped in several layers of clay, and coastal plants and trees adorn the shore. Shadow-tolerant plants are collected in the Shadow Garden, of which there are over 150 species. Another part of the garden is called the "Heather Hill", here heather crops grow: blueberries, lingonberries, heathers, cranberries, rhodododendron, blueberries. To get into the tropics do not have to go far, just get into the Palm Orangery, 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.
