France's oldest botanic garden, created in 1593, lies just west of the old quarter of Montpellier, close to the
Cathédrale Saint-Pierre. This
Jardin des Plantes was the inspiration for the more famous garden of the same name in Paris, which was created some time later. Efforts are underway to restore the Montpellier garden as local interest in this treasure has increased in recent years. But I hope they maintain some of the poetic 'faded grandeur' of this site! I became fascinated by this garden 12 years ago during my first visit, which led me to research its rich history (I recently pulled together a talk to give here in California about that history). Such an amazing number of pivotal events (scientific, cultural, anecdotal) involve this long-time botanical institution, editing my talk became more about what to leave out due to lack of time and potentially overwhelming the audience. If you have the chance to visit this charming garden, do make the effort. And prepare yourself ahead of time by reading whatever you can find (mostly in French) about its history.
I was inspired to create a Flickr photo group pool of this garden:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/jardin_des_plantes_de_montpellier/I invite you to join Flickr and add your own photos to the group!
Some photo 'excerpts' from this Flickr group:
The
Cathédrale Saint-Pierre is in the lower left of this satellite view of
Le jardin des Plantes.
The stately old grand entrance (the current entrance is up the street to the right).
