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Hortus Botanicus Review
Read our Amsterdam sights reviews. Or post your own.
Hortus Botanicus
- Address: Plantage Middenlaan 2a, East of the Amstel, Amsterdam
- Phone: 020/625–9021
- www.hortus-botanicus.nl
- Category: Gardens/Arboretums
- Location: East of the Amstel
Fodor's Review:
This wonderful botanical garden was originally laid out as an herb garden for doctors and pharmacists in 1682 before the collection expanded to include exotic plants from the East India Company's forays into foreign lands. A labyrinth of ornamental gardens and greenhouses for plant species from a variety of climates (desert, swamp, tropical, and subtropical), a total of 8,000 species are represented here. One of the oldest potted plants in the world, a 300-year-old Cycas palm can be admired near the wonderful café terrace – one of the most peaceful places in the city to enjoy a cup of coffee. In fact, Hortus harbors the leafy descendants of the first coffee plants ever introduced into Europe. A Dutch merchant stole one of the plants from Ethiopia and presented it to Hortus in 1706; they in turn sent a clipping to a botanist in France, who saw to it that further clippings reached Brazil.
- Cost: EUR 6
- Open: Sept.–June, weekdays 9–5, weekends 10–5; July and Aug., weekdays 9–9, weekends 10–9
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