Large Greenhouse (Büyük Sera), Zeytinburnu Medicinal Plants Garden

The Zeytinburnu Medicinal Plants Garden (Zeytinburnu Tıbbi Bitkiler Bahçesi) opened in 2005 on the initiative of Zeytinburnu Municipality, on 14 dönüm, about 1.4 hectares, in the Merkezefendi district. The Turkish press presents it as the country's first medicinal plants garden, and its largest: around 720 species according to TRT Haber in 2025, more than 700 according to reports from 2022, about 800 according to Habertürk in 2015. The plants are grouped in themed beds by medicinal or aromatic property and grown without synthetic fertilisers or pesticides, using biological methods only.

The large greenhouse existed by January 2015 at the latest, when Habertürk described tropical species kept at a constant temperature in the greenhouse. In 2022 the garden's manager, agricultural engineer Merve Zengin Tınmaz, counted about 93 species there; in October 2025 TRT Haber counted 80 and noted that the garden has two greenhouses, one for production and one for tropical plants.

The garden has added a herbarium, a drying room, a small laboratory, a seed bank and a composting area. Its Health and Environment School (Sağlık Çevre Okulu) runs around a hundred programmes on medicinal plants, and a volunteer scheme welcomes amateur gardeners six days a week.

The 'Seralar' page of the official website presents the building through five photographs. The large greenhouse is a polygonal pavilion with a white-painted metal frame, fully glazed, topped by a pyramidal roof of glazed slopes with a small lantern at the apex. Opening vents set into the roof provide ventilation; in one photograph the roof glazing appears veiled with green shading that softens the sun. Radiators run along the walls, matching the constant temperature reported by the press as early as 2015.

Inside, a stone-paved path winds between beds planted in open ground, where banana plants and fruit trees reach the roof framing; every plant carries a label on a stake. The official site sums up the building's purpose: to give plants from the warm and temperate regions of the world the conditions they need. Beside it, the site mentions a small propagation greenhouse, visible in the photographs as a glazed, gable-roofed unit standing on a concrete slab.

The large greenhouse holds the plants that cannot stand Istanbul's climate. TRT Haber counted about 80 species in 2025: avocado, coconut, mango, moringa, coffee, kumquat and aloe, along with banana plants, citrus and a tamarind. The 2022 reports speak of 93 species from Turkey and abroad, several of them trees, and add that the tropical fruit and edible herbs harvested under glass are eaten. As early as 2015, Habertürk listed red banana, mango, papaya, citrus and the kaki persimmon, known locally as Trabzon persimmon, kept at a constant temperature.

Around the greenhouse, the garden gathers more than 700 medicinal and aromatic species, planted in themed beds and labelled; QR codes on the labels lead to audio notes in the garden's app. A small propagation greenhouse, a herbarium and a seed bank extend the collection.

The garden occupies a block in the Merkezefendi district, between Zeytinburnu's historic cemeteries, a short walk from the Merkezefendi tram stop; it can also be reached from Zeytinburnu metro station, Kazlıçeşme Marmaray station or the Cevizlibağ metrobus stop, then by tram or minibus. Entry is free and the garden opens every day. Schools and groups can ask for a guided tour.

Picking plants, picnics, ball games and cycling are not allowed. About ten kilometres away, the orangery (Limonluk) of Yıldız Palace, already in this atlas, offers an imperial counterpart to this municipal greenhouse.