Palmiarnia w Wałbrzychu

Tucked into the Lubiechów district, the Wałbrzych Palmiarnia was built between 1911 and 1913 for Prince Hans Heinrich XV von Hochberg, at a considerable cost of seven million marks of the day. Its distinguishing feature is its interior walls, lined with volcanic tuff brought from Mount Etna in Sicily, used both as decoration and as a growing medium for the plants' roots. Originally topped with a fifteen-meter dome, the greenhouse opened with about eighty exotic species, a number that has since grown considerably to exceed 250 species now cultivated across nearly 1,900 square meters. Modernized in 1963 and later purchased by the municipality of Wałbrzych in 2012, it is today managed by the nearby Książ Castle estate and has been listed on the Polish register of historic monuments since 1994. A café, shop, and visitor trail make it one of the oldest palm houses still operating in Poland, in the shadow of the Sudetes mountains.