A true museum of nature, the Botanical Garden was inaugurated in 1885 in the Controceni Palace area. Inside it there are over 10.000 species of plants from all the continents, many of them being protected by law because they are endangered species. The plants are arranged in sectors, depending on the type of relief they originate from.

  

The Zoological Garden of Bucharest, located in the Baneasa area, was founded in 1959. It was arranged and opened in 1962. It spreads over a surface of almost 6 ha and has a collection of 149 species, reptiles, birds, mammals from Romanian and exotic fauna, pools with exotic fish species and endangered animals.

  

The Herastrau Park was arranged between 1936 and 1939, in the north part of Bucharest, on the spot of a marshy area. Even in 1806, the elegant people of Bucharest used to go for a walk on the strands of the Herastrau lake.

 

  

It is one of the oldest parks in Bucharest, inaugurated in 1854 right in the heart of the city, in front of the headquarters of the Capital’s City Hall. The lake, located in the Cismigiu Park is formed by natural sources, being called in former times “Merchant Dura’s Pond”. In 1779, on the spot where we now have Cismigiu Park there was one of the water cisterns that ensured the drinking water for the city.

 

The park, arranged by the Viennese landscapist Carl F.W.Meyer, shelters secular trees, protected by law.