Plant Garden, Montpellier (must see)

The Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier (4.5 hectares) is a historic botanical garden and arboretum. The garden was established in 1593 by a letters patent from King Henri IV, under the leadership of Pierre Richer de Belleval, professor of botany and anatomy. It is France's oldest botanical garden, inspired by the Orto botanico di Padova (1545). In turn, it serves as a model for the Jardin des Plantes de Paris (1626). The Montagne de Richer lies within the garden's oldest section, which now contains a systematic garden.

The garden was expanded twice in the nineteenth century. Its orangery was designed by Claude-Mathieu Delagardette and completed in 1804; the arboretum was landscaped in 1810, and the English Garden, with pool and greenhouse, dates from 1859. The monumental Martins greenhouse opened in 1860. Today the garden contains about 2,680 plant species, 500 of which are native to the Mediterranean region. Of these, roughly 2,000 species are grown outdoors and 1,000 under glass.