Greenhouse Complex, Central Botanical Garden of Belarus

The Central Botanical Garden of Belarus was founded in Minsk in 1932 on some 90 hectares of pine woodland that had previously hosted an agricultural exhibition. Attached to the Academy of Sciences, it became a research institute in 1967. For decades its large tropical and subtropical collections were kept in reserve greenhouses closed to the public: tours were avoided for quarantine reasons, to keep out pests and diseases.

To show these plants to visitors at last, the garden began building a separate exhibition greenhouse in 2004. The shell was finished in 2006 and planting continued through the following winter; the greenhouse opened in spring 2007, on 1 May. It proved popular at once, with about 1,800 people visiting on its first Sunday. For the first time the garden could receive the public in winter, whereas its outdoor collections are open only in the warmer months.

The display has grown steadily since. From about 300 species at the opening it now exceeds 600 tropical and subtropical species according to the garden, thanks to transfers from the reserve greenhouses and purchases from Dutch and German nurseries.

The exhibition greenhouse is an octagonal glass pavilion, which some descriptions simply call circular. Its size is around 1,200 m² according to 2007 news reports and local guides, more than 1,700 m² according to another article published at the opening, which also gives a diameter of 40 metres and a height of 18 metres.

The interior is divided into several sectors, each with its own temperature and humidity regime, controlled by an automated misting system. At the centre a tropical rainforest is arranged around a water garden with a pool and fountain; a neighbouring sector is given over to cacti and succulents from the arid regions of Africa and the Americas; a third holds subtropical and Mediterranean plants. Aquariums and a viewing platform complete the layout.

The central rainforest brings together ferns, climbers and palms, with many figs, anthuriums and orchids around the pool. The arid sector gathers cacti, agaves and other succulents. The subtropical zone shows oleanders, camellias, myrtles, azaleas, eucalyptus, ginkgo, bamboos, cypresses, magnolias and citrus, along with a screw pine, a staghorn fern and a Madagascan bottle tree. Notable specimens include Lebanese cedars given to the Belarusian president by the president of Syria, and an araucaria. Useful plants have their place too: pineapple, banana, coffee and papaya.

In its collection greenhouses, which are not open for general visits, the garden also grows more than 2,000 tropical and subtropical species, as well as the country's only citrus collection, with around a hundred varieties.

The exhibition greenhouse stands within the Central Botanical Garden, at the corner of the syringarium, or lilac collection, opposite the collection greenhouses along the maple avenue. Unlike the park, which opens in the warmer months, it can be visited all year round and makes a destination for a winter walk. In spring and summer it pairs with the garden's outdoor collections, which cover 93 hectares according to the garden, around a lake beside Chelyuskinites Park, east of central Minsk.