Sochi Arboretum
The Sochi Arboretum is located in the resort city of Sochi and covers an area of almost 50 hectares. The park's collection includes over one and a half thousand plants collected from all over the world.
The history of the park began in 1889, when art critic and playwright S. N. Khudekov bought land here for his estate. The estate was built ten years later and named "Nadezhda" in honor of the playwright's wife. There was a park next to the house, covering 15 hectares, and a garden with peaches and plums nearby. The park was developed under the guidance of gardener K. A. Langau, who wanted to make the park look like Italian and French terraced parks. Initially, plants were imported from botanical gardens in Germany, Crimea, and the Caucasus. In total, about 400 varieties of plants and trees were brought. In 1917, the park's collection consisted of over 550 varieties of trees and shrubs. In 1922, the park was nationalized. In 1977, a cable car was installed from the city to the park.
Today, about two thousand species of plants and trees grow in the Sochi Arboretum, among them the largest collection of oaks in Russia - 80 varieties. The Sochi Arboretum is divided into zones in which plants from Australia, South and North America, East Asia, the Caucasus, and the Mediterranean are collected. Almost all plants and trees are evergreen, so arboretums can be visited all year round. The Sochi Arboretum consists of an upper and a lower part. In the lower part there is an aquarium, which contains the most interesting representatives of the Black Sea. Nizhny Park is also interesting for its pond and exotarium, which has collected strange reptiles, birds, and insects. In the pond you can see turtles, muskrats, porcupines, peacocks, pelicans, ostriches, ducks, swans. In the gazebo near the pond, you can relax and look at the water surface surrounded by silent sculptures. In the Sochi Arboretum, it is pleasant to walk along the beautiful and well-groomed alleys, if desired, you can relax on a bench or rotunda by a pond or fountain.
A beautiful rose garden has been set up near the pond, with over 70 varieties of roses, pleasing with their fragrance from spring to late autumn. In the Sochi Arboretum, you can buy seedlings of rare plants and even such trees. Rare trees and shrubs grown in the arboretum nursery are being sent to Sochi for landscaping.
In 2012, the arboretum became part of the Sochi National Park.
