Gardens

Palm House in Gliwice

At 6 Fredry Street, in the Fryderyk Chopin Park in central Gliwice, runs the Municipal Palm House — a glazed botanical garden with over 5,500 plants and aquariums. The first greenhouses appeared here as early as 1880 as a private orangery; the main palm house opened to visitors in 1925, and before the war it even housed a zoo.

Five pavilions

Each pavilion keeps its own temperature and humidity. The useful plants pavilion grows bananas and citrus, the tropical one has sundews, other carnivorous plants, orchids and a pond with a cascade where piranhas swim. The historic pavilion shelters palms reaching 20 m — the oldest are about 150 years old. The complex is completed by a succulent pavilion with a cactus collection and an aquarium pavilion.

Animals among the greenery

Besides plants, turtles, snakes and exotic parrots live here, and the aquariums present fish from rivers of different continents — the largest is devoted to the Amazon. Species from Polish freshwater bodies are on display too.

In practice

Open Tue–Fri 9:00 am–6:00 pm, Sat–Sun 10:00 am–6:00 pm, closed Mondays. Tickets: PLN 10 standard, PLN 6 reduced, family PLN 20 (with the Large Family Card PLN 5 / PLN 3). On site there is a café with a viewing terrace and a plant shop; parking on Fredry Street is free. From Katowice or Zabze the drive takes about a quarter of an hour; from the DTS express road take the Instytut Onkologii exit. The palm house also hosts classical music concerts.