| Trsteno Arboretum, located in Trsteno, Croatia, is the oldest arboretum in this part of the world.[1]
The arboretum was erected by the local noble family Gučetić/Gozze (see House of Gozze) in the late 15th century, who requested ship captains to bring back seeds and plants from their travels. The exact start date for the arboretum is unknown, but it was already in existence by 1492, when a 15 m span aqueduct to irrigate the arboretum was constructed; this aqueduct is still in use.It has been the property of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts since 1948, when it was donated. The Arboretum reserves a very special place among the old Ragusan, Dalmatian and Mediterranean parks due to its five century long continuous development from Gothic Renaissance, Renaissance Baroque and Romantic forms to the present. It includes a Gothic Renaissance park surrounding the fifteenth century summer residence, which is a monument of garden architecture, and the nineteenth century neoromantic park at Drvarica. |