Hortus botanicus Leiden
The oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands
The Hortus botanicus is the green plant treasury of Leiden University. For more than four centuries, plants from all over the world have been collected and cultivated, admired and studied in the beautiful garden and greenhouses.
Activities
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Lustrum Exhibition ‘The Eternal Student'
Lustrum Exhibition ‘The Eternal Student'
What is a university without its students? The university celebrates 450 years of study...
until 26 October
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Plants & Planets
Plants & Planets
In Plants & Planets you will travel through time and space: from the Big Bang to th...
weekly
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Museum Night, Leiden
Museum Night, Leiden
During the seventeenth edition of Leiden's museum night, eleven museums and cultural in...
Saturday 14 June
Since 1590
The Hortus is the study garden of Leiden University. Scientists have been working on biodiversity and collecting and studying plants here for centuries.
Stroll through the various themed gardens, such as the Japanese Garden and the Mediterranean Garden. Also enjoy the century-old trees and greenhouses full of orchids, carnivorous pitcher plants and ferns. The Hortus is also a nice place to study or relax with a book.
Exploring in the Hortus
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The Jade flower (Strongylodon macrobotrys) is one of the most beautiful climbing plants in the Hortus' greenhouses. It grows naturally in tropical forests in the Philippines. Flower clusters up to ninety centimeters long appear in March.
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There are more than a hundred species of pitcher plants (Nepenthes) that grow mainly in tropical Asia. The catch cups are treacherous traps with a slippery edge, from which an insect once caught cannot get out.
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The greenhouse complex was built in 1938 around one of the Hortus' most spectacular trees: the 1785 Japanese walnut tree (Ginkgo biloba). The Ginkgo is the only species of the genus Ginkgo that still exists. The first fossils of this genus are at least 270 million years old.
Hortus Grand Café
The Hortus Grand Café is the place to go for a delicious cup of coffee, tea with a cake, lunch or drinks. Sit inside or outside on the terrace and enjoy local ingredients. The Grand Café uses vegetables, fruit and tea from its own garden. For example, try green tea from the Ginkgo or a Hortus beer with flowers and herbs from the Hortus.
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See all 13 museums
See all 13 museums
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Got hungry?
Got hungry?
