Overview

The 17 greenhouses of South America

17 greenhouses in South America, across 6 countries, in alphabetical order. Each entry is its own dedicated page.

South America (17)

2026

Cali Botanical Garden Orchid Pavilion

🇨🇴 Cali
A new pavilion for orchids native to the tropical dry forest of the Cauca valley, a habitat under threat from deforestation.
ColombiaView entry →
Crystal Palace of Petrópolis, Petrópolis
1884

Crystal Palace of Petrópolis

🇧🇷 Petrópolis
An iron-and-glass pavilion made in France, a gift from the Count of Eu to Princess Isabel so she could grow her plants.
BrazilView entry →
Dr. Frederico Carlos Hoehne Greenhouses (São Paulo Botanical Garden), São Paulo, State of São Paulo
1928–1929

Dr. Frederico Carlos Hoehne Greenhouses (São Paulo Botanical Garden)

🇧🇷 São Paulo, State of São Paulo
Twin greenhouses with an iron frame from England, at the very origin of the São Paulo Botanical Garden, one devoted to the Atlantic Forest.
BrazilView entry →
Estufa das Bromélias Roberto Burle Marx (Bromeliad House, Rio Botanical Garden), Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro

Estufa das Bromélias Roberto Burle Marx (Bromeliad House, Rio Botanical Garden)

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro
Some 1,700 bromeliads from South and Central America, in a greenhouse named after the landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx.
BrazilView entry →
Estufa do Jardim Botânico de Curitiba, Curitiba, Paraná
1991

Estufa do Jardim Botânico de Curitiba

🇧🇷 Curitiba, Paraná
Three iron-and-glass domes inspired by the Crystal Palace, now the defining image of Curitiba.
BrazilView entry →
Invernáculo of the Carlos Thays Botanical Garden, Buenos Aires
1889 · 1897

Invernáculo of the Carlos Thays Botanical Garden

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires
Award-winning at the Paris World's Fair before crossing the Atlantic.
ArgentinaView entry →
Invernáculo of the Montevideo Botanical Garden, Montevideo, Prado district
2022–2023

Invernáculo of the Montevideo Botanical Garden

🇺🇾 Montevideo, Prado district
A metal frame shipped from France, first erected in the Prado and moved to the Botanical Garden in the 1920s.
UruguayView entry →
1939

Invernáculo, Santa Teresa National Park

🇺🇾 Santa Teresa National Park, Rocha Department
A granite-and-glass greenhouse dated 1939, heated and humidity-controlled, set in a park on Uruguay's Atlantic coast.
UruguayView entry →
Orchid House, Institute of Botany, São Paulo
1928

Orchid House, Institute of Botany

🇧🇷 São Paulo
Some 18,000 pots of orchids held as a scientific collection, including many threatened Brazilian species.
BrazilView entry →
Orchid House, Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, Rio de Janeiro

Orchid House, Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro
A micro-orchid section comes with magnifying glasses, so visitors can see flowers barely two millimetres across.
BrazilView entry →
Palacete de Cristal, Irmãos Villas-Bôas Botanical Garden, Sorocaba, State of São Paulo

Palacete de Cristal, Irmãos Villas-Bôas Botanical Garden

🇧🇷 Sorocaba, State of São Paulo
A 500 m² glass palace on a metal frame, modelled on the crystal palaces of London, Petrópolis and Curitiba.
BrazilView entry →
Plant Conservatory, Parque Isidora Cousiño (Lota Park), Lota, Biobío Region

Plant Conservatory, Parque Isidora Cousiño (Lota Park)

🇨🇱 Lota, Biobío Region
A glass-walled conservatory, once heated by coal and wood, shelters orchids, ferns and a breadfruit tree from Java in Lota's historic park.
ChileView entry →
Quinta Normal Glasshouse, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region
1865 · 1890

Quinta Normal Glasshouse

🇨🇱 Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region
Once the glasshouse of railway magnate Henry Meiggs, now a national monument left derelict behind its railings.
ChileView entry →
Quito Botanical Garden Orquideario, Quito, Pichincha
1995

Quito Botanical Garden Orquideario

🇪🇨 Quito, Pichincha
Two orchid houses, one warm and one cool, built on the former municipal nursery of La Carolina park with a private donation.
EcuadorView entry →
Ruth Cardoso Orchid House (Orquidário Ruth Cardoso, Villa-Lobos Park), São Paulo, Parque Villa-Lobos (Alto de Pinheiros)
2010

Ruth Cardoso Orchid House (Orquidário Ruth Cardoso, Villa-Lobos Park)

🇧🇷 São Paulo, Parque Villa-Lobos (Alto de Pinheiros)
Designed by Decio Tozzi in the spirit of an Indigenous oca, this orchid house reopened in 2026 after about ten years of closure.
BrazilView entry →

Selva Subtropical Glasshouse, Córdoba Municipal Botanical Garden

🇦🇷 Córdoba (Quebrada de las Rosas district), Córdoba Province
A 40 m glass cube keeps a patch of Misiones forest above 21 °C all year, with orchids and bromeliads.
ArgentinaView entry →
Tropicario of the Bogotá Botanical Garden, Bogotá
2021

Tropicario of the Bogotá Botanical Garden

🇨🇴 Bogotá
This circuit of greenhouses was built on a platform designed as an artificial wetland, in tribute to the vanished marshes of the Bogotá savanna.
ColombiaView entry →