Monleón Greenhouse, Jardí Botànic of the University of Valencia

The botanical garden of the University of Valencia traces its roots to a collection of medicinal plants attested as early as 1567. In 1802 it moved to the former Tramoyeres orchard, outside the walls near the Quart towers, under the influence of the botanist Antonio José Cavanilles. Under Josep Pizcueta (director 1829-1867) it became one of Spain's leading botanical gardens. A first wooden greenhouse, built by Timoteo Calvo around 1845-1850, did not withstand the humidity and was rebuilt in 1867 by Ildefonso Fernández Galvache.

The major project of the period was Sebastià Monleón's iron-and-glass conservatory, designed in 1859 and built from 1860 to 1862, often described as the first Spanish building conceived in those materials. Under José Arévalo Baca a large house known as the balsa greenhouse was completed in 1888 on a similar principle, followed by the iron shade house by the architect Arturo Mélida y Alinari, dated to 1897 or 1900 depending on the source.

The flood of 1957 struck the site hard; the buildings were restored from 1962 to 1968 under Ignacio Docavo. A wider rehabilitation followed in the late 1980s, including the restoration of the Monleón greenhouse between 1989 and 1991, and a research building by Carlos Bento and Luis Gay opened in 2000. The garden is now protected as a historic garden and asset of cultural interest.

The Monleón greenhouse is a south-facing quarter-circle vault 24 m long, 9 m high and about 8.25 m in inner diameter. Its iron structure carries some 5,342 panes of glass, about 465 m² of glazed surface. It stands among the earliest examples of iron-and-glass architecture in Spain. The 1989-1991 restoration introduced modern heating and humidification, essential for growing tropical plants in Valencia's Mediterranean climate.

The balsa greenhouse follows the principles of the 1861 building. Four small semi-underground iron-and-glass houses, about 40 m² each and 3.5 m high, were built under Arévalo Baca to propagate plants for the garden, and later became display spaces. The shade house is semi-cylindrical and rests on a brick base; it covers about 560 m², rises 12 m at the centre and spans 24 m without intermediate support, with cast-iron elements that replaced the original organic materials during the 1987 restoration.

The large greenhouse holds big exotic plants, among them Ficus benjamina that have grown beyond five metres and Chorisia speciosa, alongside aralias. The four small houses are specialised: ferns, bromeliads, orchids and carnivorous plants, including Nepenthes and Pinguicula, displayed on raised benches that bring visitors close to rare species.

Outdoors, the garden keeps one of Europe's largest collections of adult palms, as well as aquatic plants, succulents, a rockery, an aquarium and an aviary. According to the city's heritage information, the garden as a whole represents about 4,500 species from five continents.

The garden lies on Calle Quart in the El Botànic district, a short walk from the medieval Torres de Quart gate and not far from the Lonja de la Seda. The glasshouses are best seen as part of a circuit that takes in the paths, the palms and the shade house; allow about an hour and a half to two hours for the whole. Spring, when the beds flower, is the most pleasant season, but the greenhouses are open all year and offer refuge on hot or rainy days. Since 2005 the shade house has held Andreu Alfaro's sculpture Homenaje a Cavanilles.