Jardin des Plantes

Overview

The Jardin des Plantes is one of the oldest public gardens in Paris and one of the most diverse green spaces in France. Founded in 1626 as the royal medicinal herb garden under Louis XIII, it grew into a centre of scientific inquiry during the Enlightenment. Today it is home to France's national natural history museum (Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle), the oldest public zoo in the world still in operation (the Ménagerie), and some of the world's finest tropical greenhouses. A garden of knowledge as much as beauty, it contains over 10,000 plant species in its botanical collections, including a robinia tree planted in 1636 — one of the oldest trees in Paris.

What to See

• 1Grande Galerie de l'Évolution — a spectacular natural history museum inside a stunning 19th-century iron-and-glass hall
• 2Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes — the world's oldest zoo still in operation, founded in 1794
• 3Tropical Greenhouses — four grand Victorian glasshouses containing cacti, orchids, and ferns
• 4Alpine Garden — a remarkable collection of mountain plants from around the world
• 5Labyrinth — an 18th-century maze of hedges with a little pavilion at the summit
• 6Rose Garden and iris beds — spectacular in spring and early summer
• 7Robinia tree planted in 1636 — one of the oldest trees in Paris

Photos

Jardin des Plantes grand allée with its symmetric flowerbeds and the Grande Galerie in the background

Nearby Parks

Jardin de la Mosquée de Paris

Garden · 5e arr.

Place des Vosges

Square · 4e arr.