Built beneath a graveyard, guarded by a tower: The story of Slovakia’s largest botanical garden

Its collection comprises more than 4,000 species and subspecies of plants, while the site includes a complex of greenhouses spanning a total area of 3,500 square metres. The Košice Botanical Garden is, without question, the largest in Slovakia. This year, it celebrates its 75th anniversary.

Situated at the foot of the hills on the northern edge of the city, the garden is located in the Červený Breh locality.

Originally established as the Botanical Institute in another part of Košice, its creation was prompted by the limited area of just three hectares available at the time – insufficient for the institute’s needs. As a result, the area beneath the Rozália cemetery in the Košice-Sever district was selected, and later expanded into its present form.

An exhibition on Hlavná Street in Košice has been organised to mark the anniversary. Several information panels detail the garden’s history, accompanied by archival photographs.

Košice Botanical Garden (16 photos)

One of the largest in Europe

The garden’s origins can be traced back to 1946, when its future first director, Jozef Rácz, was tasked with preparing for the opening of the University of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering in Košice, along with the botanical garden itself.

The official opening took place on May 5, 1950, on the premises of what is now the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy on Komenského Street. Rácz served as director from 1950 to 1958.

In the spring of 1951, construction began on the greenhouses at Červený Breh, based on designs by the Czech company Hotsch, n.p., Děčín. The total cost was later determined to be 6,400,000 Czechoslovak crowns.

Two years later, the university and institute were transferred to the newly established Slovak Academy of Sciences. It was only later that the institute formally became a botanical garden.