Botanická zahrada Přírodovědecké fakulty UK

"Today's botanical garden between Benátská, Na Slupi, Apolinářská and Vinicná streets had its historical predecessors. Prague's oldest botanical garden was founded by pharmacist Angelo from Florence in the 14th century. on the site of today's main post office in Jindřišská street. Charles IV also visited the garden. Since 1600, the Jesuits had a botanical garden at the site of today's Prime Minister's Office in Malá Strana. It was sold after the abolition of the order. In 1775, Maria Terezia had a new botanical garden established in Smíchov on the site of today's Dientzenhofer Gardens (today's V Botanice Street), which was later owned by the University of Prague. However, the garden suffered from floods and industry, and was closed in 1902. Therefore, in 1890, the state bought the former Social Garden for the University of Prague, which had been located in the place of today's Botanic Garden Na Slupi since 1845, and which had already had a greenhouse complex built as an exhibition space since 1882 pavilions. The community garden was founded by the Czech Society for the Improvement of Horticulture. In 1897 and 1898, mobile collections were transferred here from Smíchov and greenhouses were added. The botanical garden was then divided between the Czech and German parts of the university. Both parts were ceremonially opened in 1898. Gradually, new exhibitions and an arboretum, greenhouses, and ponds were built. After the end of the Second World War, during which part of the greenhouses and equipment were damaged by bombing, both parts of the gardens were merged into one unit in the Botanical Garden of Charles University. A neighboring slope with an area of ​​approx. 1800 m² was connected to the garden and a large alpinum was built on it. New greenhouses were built, which served until 1995. From 1992, the garden was revitalized, in the years 1996 — 1998, a complete reconstruction of the greenhouse complex took place. Today, the glazed area is 1700 m², irrigation, heating and ventilation are controlled by computers. The expositions changed, only the exposition of wild flora and the rock garden made of Hlubočepsk limestone, the so-called Karlštejn, both from 1904, and the exposition of medicinal plants from the beginning of the 20th century remained unchanged. Some of the original dendrological inventories from the Social Garden have been preserved in the arboretum, but most of them date from the end of the 19th century and later. The exhibition of azaleas and sandhills is noteworthy. The total area of ​​the garden, including glazed and built-up area, is 3.5 ha. The difference in altitude between the lowest and highest point is 32 m. The direct administrator of the garden is the Faculty of Science of Charles University. The building of its Department of Botany is located in the grounds of the garden. The garden serves the direct teaching of students and the general public."