Alexandru Borza Botanical Garden | Cluj Napoca

Physical & Material Composition

The garden encompasses 14 hectares of varied topography, reaching an elevation of 415 meters at its highest point. The infrastructure includes two primary greenhouses: the Palm House, reaching 15 meters in height with a steel and glass framework, and the Victoria amazonica house, designed with a circular basin for aquatic flora.

The site features a Japanese Garden characterized by a Shinto-style gate (Torii) and a curved wooden bridge over a stream bed lined with andesite stones. The Roman Garden contains two authentic limestone sarcophagi and a statue of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. The "Palace of the Botanical Garden" is a masonry structure housing the Botanical Museum and a Herbarium containing 650,000 sheets of dried plant specimens.

Geographical Location

The garden is located at Strada Republicii, No. 42, on the southern slope of the city’s central hill. It is positioned 700 meters south of Union Square (Piața Unirii) and 400 meters west of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy. The site is bordered to the north by Strada Mihai Eminescu and to the south by the Zorilor residential district.

Access Logistics

The primary public entrance is located on Strada Republicii. The terrain involves a 10-degree to 15-degree incline along the asphalt and gravel pathways leading from the entrance to the higher plateau. Bus lines 35, 46, and 50 serve the "Grădina Botanică" stop located 50 meters from the main gate. The greenhouses follow a separate operating schedule from the exterior park areas.

Historical Markers

The garden was founded in 1920 by Professor Alexandru Borza as part of the University of Cluj. It was officially opened to the public in 1925. The Japanese Garden was designed in 1923 by a specialist from the Japanese Embassy in Bucharest.

The Herbarium (Herbarium Universitatis Claudiopolitanae) was established in the same period and currently ranks as the largest in Romania. In 1960, the modern greenhouse complex was inaugurated to house tropical species, including the Victoria amazonica water lily.

Insider Observation

In the Roman Garden sector, a specific 2nd-century limestone funerary monument features a partially eroded Latin inscription identifying a member of the Roman legio XIII Gemina. On the northern side of the Palm House, a 10-centimeter brass serial number tag is affixed to the lower steel support beam of the ventilation system. The Japanese Garden stream bed contains 5-centimeter clumps of Fontinalis antipyretica (willow moss) concentrated on the shaded undersides of the stone bridge.

Surrounding Environmental Context

The garden is bounded by the Oncology Institute "Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuță" to the east. Immediate vegetation includes mature specimens of Metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood) and Taxodium distichum (bald cypress) near the water features. The "Zorilor" district clinics and private residences form the southern and western perimeters of the site.