It was built under the cemetery, guarded by the tower. What is the story of the largest botanical garden

Košice. It is the largest in Slovakia, not only flat but also a number of plants. It also experiences a distinctive boom. In 2024, a record number of people passed through her gates. Botanická Garden Košice belongs to the University of PJ Šafárik. He writes a 75-year history.

It was founded in 1950 in the area of ​​the former Comenius Institute on Komenského Street. Today it is the area of ​​the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy. At that time, the then Botanical Institute belonged to the University of Agriculture and Forestry Engineering in Košice. It was created on May 5. May 1950.

It had an area of ​​three hectares, but it was not enough for his planned activity. Therefore, for the new garden was a selected area under the Cemetery Rozália in the district of Košice-Sever, which was later extended to the territory of the Červený shore after the mine in Bankov.

One of the largest in Europe

Jozef Rácz became the first director of the Botanical Institute. He headed from 1950 to 1958. In 1946 he received a technical preparation for the opening of the University of Agriculture and Forestry Engineering in Košice.

The university, including the Institute, went under the upcoming Slovak Academy of Sciences in 1953. It was only later that the Botanical Garden became the Institute.

The 75th anniversary of its founding is dedicated to the exhibition on the main street in Košice. His history, including archival photographs, is described on several infotabuls.

In the spring of 1951, the construction of greenhouses started on the Red Bank according to the projects of HotSCH, NP, Děčín. In 1954, the amount was specified for this intention, six million 400,000 Czechoslovak crowns. From this they built greenhouses, walled the foundations, built a boiler room and a chimney.

In October 1958 there was an exposure greenhouse, which was one of the largest in Central Europe at that time. It was a set of greenhouses with an area of ​​1,742 quadrilaterals, divided into three larger parts and seven smaller greenhouses.

Return to vineyards

In 1960 the garden became part of the University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik in Košice. Five years later, they renewed the vineyard, which served in the second half of the 19th century. On it Ján Mathiasz aristored varieties of Hungarian table wine. Later, due to inappropriate climatic conditions, he moved the cultivation of vines to the Tokaj region.

Košice surrounded in the past vineyards. They intervened mainly in the villages of Tahanovce and Myslava. Most of the vineyards were owned by the townspeople. Wine was a valuable article for the city and also a solid part of the city’s economic and social operation in the Middle Ages and modern times. Košice wine was sold to Spiš and Poland.

Let us return to the vineyard of the botanical garden. They renewed it again in 1965. To save it from possible thieves, they built a six -meter -high watch tower on top of the vineyard. There was a view of the Košice basin and the Hornád River.

As stated in the description of the exhibition on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Botanical Garden in Košice, according to old maps and photographs, there was a chapel, which probably belonged to the Cemetery Rozália and apparently after the arrival of Communism in Czechoslovakia.

Modern repairs

After a year 1989 has expanded the glazed area by building new eighth greenhouses. Of these, four are included in the complex of exposure greenhouses with heating and four are used in the economic part as growing greenhouses.

Since 2002, the garden has been protected by law and declared a protected area. In addition to being a unique plant biocentre in Košice, it is also home to many animal rare and endangered species.

In December 2014, they ended the extensive repair of the three largest exposure greenhouses, which served their purpose continuously for 56 years.

The repair of greenhouses in the total value of almost EUR 410 000, which was financed by the University from its own resources, included renovation of load -bearing structures, replacing the original glass fillings with polycarbonate plates, repairing wiring wiring and installation of elements allowing automatic ventilation.

About seven years later, they started to reconstruct in the garden. They started work to insulate their building. In addition to the new facade and replaced windows, there will also be a visitor center and café.

Visitor records

Exhibition of orchids or bonsai, butterfly shows or evening commented shows, opening or summer concerts in the open. All these public events contribute to the wider public to seek the garden. Over the past years, it has registered the increasing interest of visitors. Last year she reached a record, more than 85,000 people came there.

There are more than a hundred species of birds, 25 species of mammals, eight species of amphibians and three types of reptiles in the garden area. At the same time, 25 species are among the protected types of national importance such as Rohac Great, Green tree frog, tree snake or carpenter Čierny.

In addition to large collections of live plants, the herbarium, which is part of the public herbarium network, also manages. Ko. Under such an official abbreviation, you would find the Košice herbarium in the international database. It has about 55,000 items, of which 40,000 are captured digital.

Since 1954, the Košice garden has also been involved in the program of international seed exchange. It is a global program, thanks to it the gardens are building and expanding their collections. Košice currently cooperates with approximately 400 gardens and institutions.

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