For 150 years, a unique oasis of nature has existed in the heart of Belgrade. The “Jevremovac” botanical garden is a natural monument of great importance, and since 2007 it has also been a cultural monument.
“According to the requirements of today’s times, the botanical garden has two tasks to perform: on the one hand, to assemble the flora of the country in a small space, whose youth are there to learn botany, and on the other hand, to collect all the exotic plants that are needed, to the garden will mainly represent the vegetation of the whole world”, said Josif Pančić 150 years ago when, as a professor of botany, he found a place for his plants in the courtyard of Princess Ljubica’s residence.
“After that, the botanical garden moved to Dorćol, between the Danube and the City, and of course a flood happened one year, which destroyed the plant fund at that time. Fortunately, Pančić was a very good friend and associate of Sava Petrović, who was the personal physician of King Milan Obrenović, but was also a botanist at the same time. And he convinced the king, explained to him the needs of teaching education and botany. And King Milan Obrenović presents this inheritance of five hectares to the Great School. At that time, his only wish was to be called “Jevremovac”, says Dr. Milan Gavrilović, a member of the author team of the exhibition “The Big Picture”.
From then until today, the Botanical Garden successfully solves not only those two tasks of Pančić, but also many others that time has put before it. All of this is discussed in the “Broader Picture” exhibition, which was authored by professors and doctors of science.
“Here, citizens can see the history of the botanical garden, they can see the roles of the botanical garden. We have all these collections of plants in the open space, collections of woody and bushy plants, collections of spring plants, collections of ferns, then in the greenhouse, collections of carnivores that are the most interesting for the youngest, collections of economically significant plants. So, these are all very interesting plants that we use in classes with students and that are also interesting to citizens,” adds Dr. Gavrilović.
Guardian of biodiversity
The plant fund includes more than two thousand domestic and foreign plant species, of which there are about 1,100 in the greenhouse. At the proposal of the Institute for Nature Protection of Serbia three decades ago, the Government of the Republic of Serbia passed a decree declaring the “Jevremovac” Botanical Garden a Nature Monument of great importance. Since 2007, it has been a cultural monument.
“The data indicate that there are oaks and pine trees somewhere over 140 years old, which means that they hide many secrets, apart from those that have scientific, cultural, historical and aesthetic significance. In addition to that greenhouse, which is also part of a cultural monument, it also has that aesthetic moment that the Japanese Garden points to,” says Dr. Nenad Sekulić from the Institute for Nature Protection of Serbia.
“There is one of the largest botanical libraries in the area with extremely valuable historical books. There is the largest herbarium in the area with 250,000 herbarium specimens. There is the world’s largest collection of mosses in culture. And we are in fact someone who preserves diversity, not only of our country but also of the whole world”, emphasized Prof. Dr. Gordana Subakov Simić, manager of the “Jevremovac” Botanical Garden.
Annually, the “Jevremovac” Botanical Garden is visited by more than 100,000 visitors. Not only because of the flora, but also because of numerous educational workshops, concerts and other cultural and artistic programs.
Source: RTS
Source: energetskiportal.rs
