Real JardÃn Botánico de Madrid
The Real Jardin Botanico de Madrid ( German Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid ) in 1755 by King Ferdinand VI. in Soto de Migas Calientes founded on the outskirts of Madrid. King Charles III. ordered in 1781 to relocate the garden to its present location on the Paseo del Prado, next to the under construction Natural History Museum (now the Museo del Prado ).
The Botanical Garden is divided by three stepwise successive terraces. It houses plants from Europe, America and the Pacific Rim. The Real Jardin Botanico de Madrid today is a research institution of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. In the garden you can see about 5,000 different species of trees and plants from all over the world.
- 2.1 Terraza de los Cuadros
- 2.2 Terraza de las Escuelas Botánicas
- 2.3 Terraza del Plano de la Flor
- 2.4 Terraza Terraza de alta or los Laureles
History
Precursor
King Philip II had to create upon request, the physician Andrés Laguna a botanical garden next to the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. In 1755, Ferdinand VI had. a Real Jardin Botanico invest in Madrid, in the Huerta de Migas Calientes (now Puerta de Hierro ) was located on the banks of the River Manzanares. He already had more than 2,000 plants that had collected on various trips through the Iberian Peninsula and Europe, or acquired by exchange of other botanical gardens in Europe, the botanist and surgeon José cross. The continuous growth of the garden led to Charles III. 1774 ordered to relocate the garden to its current location on the Paseo del Prado. This was part of the program for the renewal of the Salón del Prado and Atocha.
José Moñino y Redondo, Prime Minister Charles III. , Was very involved for the relocation of the Botanic Garden at the prado viejo Atocha. He was not only the Salón del Prado beautify, but also serve as a symbol of patronage of the Crown of Science and Art. At that time there were also near the Natural History Cabinet (later Museo del Prado ) and the observatory. At installation of the Botanical Garden at the Prado was involved with another professor Casimiro Gómez Ortega.
Early years
The new botanical garden plant was the assessor and scientists Casimiro Gómez Ortega, and the architect Francesco Sabatini transferred, the 1781 original plan transpose between 1774 and the inauguration, which provided an outline in three stages. A part of the enclosure was completed, including the Puerta Real. The second phase from 1774 to 1781 directed by the architect Juan de Villanueva, he clarified the function of the garden for science and education in the foreground. The garden was 10 acres in size, the rising terrain was divided into three terraces, which were in turn divided into square sections. The uppermost terrace ( Terraza del Plano de la Flor ) was remodeled in the 19th century. The area was fenced with an elegant iron railings that had been made in Tolosa ( Basque Country ). The grid was sitting on a granite pedestal. As inputs, built by Sabatini Puerta Real style with Doric columns and pediment and erected by Villanueva entrance is opposite the Museo del Prado served in the classic.
The garden also included greenhouses, seed beds and farm buildings. In the eastern part of a greenhouse, the Pabellón Villanueva was built. But the building of the royal architect was enough more aesthetic than practical requirements, so they brought there in the early 19th century, the library, the herbarium and lecture theaters under.
The Royal Botanic Garden received extensive material which had collected the data sent by the Crown scientific expeditions. In the 18th and 19th century, the garden took part in at least five expeditions: the Botanical Expedition to New Granada (now Colombia) under the direction of José Celestino Mutis, the Botanical Expedition to the Viceroyalty of Peru with Hipólito Ruiz and José Antonio Pavón Lopez, the Botanical expedition to New Spain (now Mexico and USA) by Martín and José Mariano Sessé mocino, the circumnavigation Alessandro Spina Mala, which was attended by the botanist Antonio Pineda, Luis Née and Thaddeus Haenke and Comisión Científica del Pacífico at the botanist Juan Isern. The garden was at this time drawings, seeds, fruits, wood samples, live plants and especially herbarium sheets that could increase the herbarium and library.
19th century
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid had become one of the most important institutions of its kind in Europe. This he owed his particular scientific collections and the work of its director, Antonio José Cavanilles. Cavanilles renewed the Garden, the Herbarium and the culture beds and gave the garden of international significance. In spring and summer, the garden was a meeting of the fine Madrid society. Medicinal plants were distributed free of charge. However, the Napoleonic Wars brought with him years of neglect. Also during the first third of the 19th century, it remained the decline of the garden on despite the efforts of the former director Mariano Lagasca.
Under the direction of the zoologist Mariano de la Paz Graells, who was also director of the Natural History Museum, major reforms have been implemented. These included the construction of a cold house, which still bears Graells name, and the new system the top terrace. During these years, eg a zoological garden was created, which was twelve years later moved to the Parque del Buen Retiro.
Nevertheless, the garden lost in the 1880s to surface. So in 1882 two acres were removed to build the building that now houses the Ministry of Agriculture. For the construction of a road on the south side of the Botanical Garden in 1893 more land had to be sacrificed. Thus it was reduced to its present size of eight hectares. In 1886 a hurricane aimed at wreaking havoc in the Botanical Gardens, 564 valuable trees had to be felled.
20th century
The Real Jardin Botanico in 1939 assigned to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. For Jardín Artístico which was declared in 1942. Was followed by decades of scarcity and decline, until it was closed in 1974 for restoration work. They restore the original condition of the target. The work was carried out 1980-1981. The architect Antonio Fernández Alba led the transformation of the Pabellón Villanueva, the architect Guillermo Sánchez Gil and the landscape architect Leandro Silva were responsible for the approximation to the original design of the garden.
In February 2005, the exhibition area of the Botanical Garden has been extended to an acre.
Garden
The accessible to the public part of the garden is divided into three terraces that exploit the differences in height of the terrain.
Terraza de los Cuadros
The bottom is also the widest of the three terraces. There are the collections of ornamental, medicinal and aromatic plants, vegetables, fruit trees, and the old roses. The square beds are edged with boxwood hedges, in the center, each with a small fountain. At the end of the main path through this terrace of the rock garden is located.
Terraza de las Escuelas Botánicas
The second terrace is a little smaller than the first. Here an attempt is made to present the plants according to their position in the taxonomic system. The plants are ordered by families who are grouped around twelve wells.
Terraza del Plano de la Flor
The top terrace is slightly smaller than the preceding, and is characterized by a romantic style. It consists of 25 figures or flower beds with curved shapes. The Terraza del Plano de la Flor is divided by hedgerows and four roundels. In the middle is a pond and a bust of Carl von Linné. The 1781 was built as a greenhouse Pabellón Villanueva is now used for exhibitions. The terrace is surrounded by a wrought iron arbor from 1786, in which vines of different varieties of high entwine.
On the northern edge of this terrace is the Invernadero Graells, a greenhouse from the 19th century. In it are housed tropical plants, aquatic plants and mosses. Next to it is a larger modern exhibition greenhouse with a tropical, a temperate and a desert area.
Terraza Terraza de alta or los Laureles
The " Upper Terrace " or " Laurel Terrace " was created in 2005 with the extension of the botanical garden designed by the landscape architect Fernando Caruncho. She is very much smaller than the other terraces and is located behind the Pabellón Villanueva. It will provide space for special collections, if it be donated by former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González bonsai collection here.
Collections
The herbarium of the Botanical Garden of Madrid is the most important Herbarium of Spain. His international identification code is MA. It covers about one million herbarium sheets, some dating back to the 18th century of which date. The herbarium is structured a Department of flowering plants and cryptogams and the historical collections in each. The latter contain the collected on scientific expeditions in the 18th and 19th centuries plants.
The library of the Real Jardin Botanico goes back to the founding years of the garden. It contained 1781 or 151 volumes, of which 83 dealt with botany, natural history with 19 and 49 with chemistry. Already in 1787 there were nearly a thousand books, in 1801 about 1,500., The library now includes 30,000 books, 2075 journal titles, 26,000 brochures, 3000 and 2500 titles on microfiche cards.
The archive since 1775 the documents relating to the garden, for example the newly acquired plants collected. The first catalog " Índice de los Manuscritos, Dibujos y del Real Jardín Láminas botánico " dates from 1815 and was made by Simón de Rojas Clemente.
Since its inception, the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid participated in the exchange of seeds with other institutions around the world. A list of the seeds that will be issued is distributed about 500 botanical gardens and research institutions under the title "Index Seminum " every year. Since 1987 is a cooling chamber for storage of seeds in a seed library. Thus, the germination capacity is maintained for so long that it was decided to carry out campaigns for collecting seeds in the whole of Spain and store them there.
Facilities
The " Departamento de la Biodiversidad y Conservación " (Department of Biodiversity and Conservation ) deals with all aspects of plant biodiversity, particularly the vascular plants of the Mediterranean, in the tropics and subtropics.
At the " Departamento de Micología " (Department of Mycology ) taxonomy, distribution and ecology of fungi are studied and developed measures for their protection.
At the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, the Spanish branch of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility is located.
Regular publications
The Royal Botanical Garden publishes the journal Anales del Jardin Botanico de Madrid, contains articles on the taxonomy and systematics of plants and fungi. It also deals with related topics such as biogeography, bioinformatics, conservation, and others. The magazine contains information about newly discovered species to be added to the database W3TROPICOS, International Plant Names Index or Index Fungorum.
When publishing Flora Iberica is a taxonomic study of the vascular plants that grow wild in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. With his work on this project began in 1980, by 2010, 15 of the planned 21 volumes were published.
The Botanical Garden of Madrid also publishes the Flora Iberica Mycologica and Cuadernos de Trabajo de Flora Ibérica Micológica. in the series Ruizía several monographs have been published.