It is hard to imagine, but once upon a time there was a sullen steppe on the place where today blooming Odessa — one of the most greened cities of Ukraine — spreads. Greening of the city began in 1819 with the foundation of the first botanical garden in Odessa by French botanist K. Desmet. This garden was the first on the territory of the southern steppe of Ukraine. For almost 200 years of its existence it gradually began to acquire the status of the most beautiful sightseeing place in Odessa, it entered the list of the ten oldest botanical gardens in Ukraine.
In just a few years of work Carl Desmet managed to increase the number of tree and shrub species growing in the city and its vicinity from 122 to 650. The result of the French scientist’s labors became the ancestor of the present Odessa Botanical Garden, the first tree in which was planted by the famous Count Langeron.
Trees and other plants were supplied to Odessa from Berlin and Paris, Saigon and Singapore, Melbourne and Budapest, Coimbra and Palermo and many other cities and countries. Together with the garden, the city was greened — all the plants that can be seen on the streets of Odessa today were born in the bosom of the botanical garden.
Today Odessa Botanical Garden is part of the Biology Department of the Odessa State University named after I. I. Mechnikov. However, it is open to everyone who spends his vacation in Odessa and wants to see this beautiful place. Botanical Garden was officially attached to the university in 1867, and nowadays its whole territory is divided into old (French Boulevard 87) and new (48-80) parts.
Now both parts of the garden occupy a vast area of 16 hectares, on which grow more than three thousand different kinds of plants of rare breeds and amazing forms, young and old age, because some «pets» live here practically since the founding of the botanical garden. You can learn the history of each plant by reading the information plate located next to it. But it is easy to guess that the majestic giant trees, the trunks of which cannot be grasped with your hands, are some of those old-timers.
Botanical Garden of Odessa is an amazing place. In just one day, its visitors can feel the atmosphere of the Siberian taiga, tropical forest, see strange plants from different countries of the world and feel as if they are in a fairy kingdom, where fairies live — so fragrant with beauty some corners of this place! Here you can not only breathe fresh, and in spring — unusually fragrant air, but also learn a lot of interesting things about the flora of our world, or just think under the shadow of green vaults.
One more interesting fact from the life of Odessa Botanical Garden: N.S. Mikhalkov filmed the movie «Slave of Love» here, and in gratitude the director glazed the palm (tropical) greenhouse.
If you ask any passerby in Odessa, what place in the city can be called the most calm, beautiful and peaceful, no doubt, the answer will be the Odessa Botanical Garden. This is a favorite recreation park of Odessa residents, and guests of the city often come here, wishing to admire the living attraction of Odessa — a masterpiece of the joint work of man and nature.