Valencia. Royal gardens (Jardines del Real o Viveros)

The Park "Royal gardens" (Jardines del Real o Viveros on the map) takes its name from the Palace built in the 14th century, the second part of the name comes from the name of the nursery "huerta de Vivel", created on the instructions of king Felipe II.

In the nursery, orange and lemon trees were grown for the Aranjuez Palace near Madrid. Originally, the Park occupied a much larger area than the current one. In 1810, during the war with Napoleon, the Palace was destroyed by the Spanish, so that the French troops could not use it for mounting guns. A pair of watchtowers on Albereda Boulevard, opposite the entrance to the Park, remain from the beautiful complex. record), and the foundations where excavations are currently being carried out.

Military operations caused significant damage to the gardens. Immediately after the war, in 1814, on the initiative of the captain-Governor of Valencia Francisco Javier Elio (Francisco Javier Elio), the restoration of the garden began. In 1869, the garden received the status of a municipal nursery and was used for landscaping the city. At the beginning of the 20th century, the city Council decided to close the nursery, selling part of the territory for private development, and on the remaining area to equip a public Park.

In 1926, the garden was enclosed by a cast-iron fence, and statues were erected on its territory, and colonnades and pavilions were built.

Appeared bodies of water and fountains,

decorated with cascading waterfalls.

In may, book fair pavilions are built on the Park's alleys, and in summer they become concert venues, where the festival "Feria de Julio"takes place.

Several Valencian writers are immortalized in the Park - in 1931, a monument to the poet Vicente Querol (Vicente Wenceslao Querol Campos, 1836 -1889)

Constanti Llombart (Born Carmel Navarro Llombart 1848-1893) was a journalist and writer, an active campaigner for the preservation of the Valencian language, who translated many literary works into Valencian.

In the Park, you can visit the Museum of natural Sciences of Valencia (Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales).

Not far from the Park, you can see the Observatory tower of the University of Valencia.

A drinking spring is a sample of artistic cast iron casting.

On the territory of the Royal gardens grow more than 3000 trees and shrubs of about 200 different species, representing the flora of not only Spain, but also other countries. Here you can see Magnolia, hibiscus, begonia, ficus, pine, spruce, cypress, ferns, agaves (bottle tree), cacti, rhododendrons, coconuts, palms, tamarisk, American bananas and much more. Flower beds are decorated with different types of carnations and roses.