The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens offer a 30-acre retreat of beauty and tranquility in the heart of Israel's largest metropolis. Here, you can travel from Europe to North America, from Southern Africa to Australia, and from Asia to the Mediterranean! With the largest plant collection in Israel, the Gardens truly present 'biodiversity live'!
The climate in Jerusalem - with its hot, dry summers and cold, rainy winters - is particularly suitable for the Mediterranean flora. The Gardens’ thirty-two developed acres house over six thousand species of plants, arranged according to regions: South Africa, Europe, North America, Australia, South-west and Central Asia and the Mediterranean Basin. The area dedicated to South Africa I was particularly struck by the breadth and richness of plants. (It seems that in the future, the Gardens will extend to an additional fourteen acres to include Japanese and Chinese gardens and a South American section.)
Highlights include a colorful indoor tropical conservatory, a Plants of the Bible trail, a herb and medicinal plant garden, and an African savannah grass maze. The Conservatory is designed to present a microcosm of the rain forest. Inside you will find plants from each of the three stories in the forest: the tree canopy, the middle level and the forest floor.
Jerusalem, then, is not only a very important and ancient religious destination but also a city that contains a botanical garden that I highly recommend visiting for its quality and wealth!
Jerusalem Botanical Gardens - 1 Zalman Shneor Street, Nayot, Jerusalem.
