our increasingly urbanized society. Opened a year ago at the gates of Angers, this unusual experience is called Terra Botanica.

Over 10 hectares of gardens, hothouses, and ponds offer myriad opportunities for discovery. The circuit punctuated by attractions and rides, fun for children as well as adults. The educational displays stimulate visitors’ curiosity and help them discover nature’s riches and marvel at its mysteries.

At Terra Botanica the visitor is taken aback by the multiple facets of the vegetable world: geographic and climatic, of course, but also historic, economic, scientific, and medicinal, and even symbolic. Haven’t plants, trees, and flowers always been extraordinary symbols?

The park is organized around four domains:

• Sought-After Plants–where we learn about the coveted plants and the pioneering botanists who undertook audacious adventures (like the famous Alexander von Humbolt in South America) to find them. Here we participate in expeditions from centuries past, scientific as well as commercial (like the Spice Route), and experience the conflicts surrounding them. We also find out about today’s cutting edge research centers and laboratories.

•Generous Plants–where we find out about the relationship between humankind and plants, and their interdependence. Here we realize just how generous nature is: plants feed both animals and humans, treat their illnesses, protect them, shelter them…and even make them smell good. The words of Voltaire’s Candide become very clear: “One must cultivate one’s garden,” whether it’s a tiny patch of green or a classic kitchen garden or a sacred haven for making contact with the spiritual.

• Mysterious Plants–where we discover some of the secrets of the botanical world through our planet’s evolution. We become familiar with complex scientific subjects (like photosynthesis and DNA). We explore biodiversity, one of the major themes of our era, and how it effects the natural balance of our planet, in particular how it impacts the food chain.

• Domesticated Plants–where we are amazed by the extraordinary ability of plants to adapt and evolve, a permanent miracle in the face of man’s assaults on nature. We are astonished by the incredible diversity of vegetable species and their habitats: from the most arid deserts to the icy polar caps, from the tops of mountains to the bottom of the ocean.

How can we comprehend the pressing environmental problems effecting the global population if we don’t understand the basics of this essential vegetable resource? Terra Botanica tries to answer this question. Its attractive and interactive presentation makes this voyage of discovery into the plant world unique in France, and even in all of Europe.

And what’s more, you are invited to explore the flora of six continents in one visit, all the while enjoying the legendary ambiance of the Loire—what could be a nicer gift? Enjoy this cornucopia of knowledge…
Photos © Terra Botanica

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