Botanical Garden UPJŠ

Košice, Slovakia, Slovakia

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The Botanical Garden UPJŠ (Botanická záhrada UPJŠ) in Košice, Slovakia, is the largest botanical garden in Slovakia, covering 30 hectares at the foothills on the northern edge of the city and open to the public since 1950.

Established in 1950 as a research and teaching institute of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, it houses nearly 4,000 plant species, making it one of the most important botanical gardens in Central Europe. The garden features tropical and subtropical flora, decorative plants, an arboretum, and is particularly famous for its high greenhouses and its collection of about 1,200 cactuses, which is allegedly the largest from the former Czechoslovakia territory.

It holds the status of a Protected Area since August 2002, and its staff cares for 14 protected species from eastern Slovakia, including eight critically endangered plant species.