Palmehuset

Funded and given to the University of Copenhagen in 1874 by brewer and patron J.C. Jacobsen, founder of Carlsberg, the Palmehuset is the centerpiece of the Copenhagen Botanical Garden. Its architect, P.C. Bønecke, drew direct inspiration from London's Crystal Palace, built for the 1851 Great Exhibition, in designing this iron-and-glass greenhouse. At the center of the greenhouse complex built the same year, which together covers about 3,000 m², the Palmehuset's dome rises to 16 meters, served by a cast-iron spiral staircase leading to a walkway at the top. It today houses a collection of palms and cycads, some specimens planted as early as 1824, among the oldest potted trees in Northern Europe. Still managed by the Natural History Museum of Denmark, it is free to visit year-round.