The Sežana Botanical Garden

The neatly arranged garden and large plant collection ensure a pleasant horticultural experience.

The 150-year-old cedar trees, box trees neatly arranged in circular beds, blooming pergolas and the palm house, a replica of that found in the Schönbrunn Botanical Garden in Vienna, together make a beautiful garden that is protected as a horticultural monument. Its beginnings go back to 1848 when the Scaramangà family from Trieste started building a garden alongside its villa in Sežana, filling it with plants from all over the world. The family expanded the garden and took good care of it up until the end of World War II, when it was nationalised and opened to the public.

Today, the garden features a collection of nearly 200 plants from around the world. The most beautiful and valuable trees in the park include the Lebanon cedar, the coffee plant, the Bornmueller Turkish fir, the giant sequoia, the Judas tree, the yew tree, the Osage orange with its unusual big green fruits and the Spanish fir. The garden contains beautiful cactuses and exotic flowers and, among carefully tended foreign species, typical flora of the Karst also grow. The exhibition pavilion features a small natural sciences museum where visitors can see three museum collections and a gallery hosting photograph exhibitions. A multi-visual show presents the park’s history.