Description of the attraction
The Botanical Garden of Vitebsk State University was founded in the 18th century. In 1797 Ivan Ivanovich Verebyev founded a very small botanical garden on a plot of land belonging to him on the right bank of the Vitba. Its area was only 6 acres. Later, S. O. Slenec, who built a Catholic oratorium here in 1858.
The official date of the foundation of the botanical garden is considered to be 1919, when the outstanding botanist and agronomist G. M. Sadovsky restored the remains of the former botanical garden. The garden was created as a teaching aid for students and schoolchildren, where they could visually study botany. Under this plausible pretext, the botanical garden was not only not restored, its area in 1925 was increased to 3 hectares. Botanical collections were regularly replenished, work was carried out on the study, systematization and introduction of plants.
In 1926, the northernmost white mulberry plantation was established in the Vitebsk Botanical Garden. Yunnats of Vitebsk took part in the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition in 1938-41.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Vitebsk Botanical Garden was badly damaged. Fighting took place on its territory, it was all in craters from explosions and dug up by trenches. Working in the botanical garden since 1919, L. D. Nikolsky had to not only restore the collection, but also put the territory in order.
At the moment, the territory of the botanical garden occupies about 4 hectares. About 1, 5 thousand species of plants from different countries of the world grow on it. There is a closed ground area, a test nursery. Scientists work here who study rare plants in their places of growth, develop measures for the protection and restoration of the flora of their native land. For the residents of Vitebsk, the botanical garden is a favorite place for walks and rest.
