Peter the Great Botanical Garden

Russia's oldest botanical garden, founded by Peter the Great in 1714 — now a scientific institution with thousands of plant species from around the world.

The Peter the Great Botanical Garden in Saint Petersburg is the oldest botanical garden in Russia and one of the most significant in Europe. Founded in 1714 under Tsar Peter the Great as an apothecary garden to supply the city with medicinal plants, it grew over centuries into a world-renowned scientific institution. Today it is affiliated with the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and houses one of the largest plant collections in the northern hemisphere. Spread across a large site on the Petrograd side of Saint Petersburg, the garden contains thousands of species from all climate zones, including tropical greenhouses, rose gardens, and an impressive living tree collection. The garden uniquely combines nature experience, scientific research, and the history of the Petrine era.