Trsteno Arboretum

Trsteno, Croatia, Croatia

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Trsteno Arboretum is Croatia’s oldest botanical garden, located in the small seaside village of Trsteno just under 20 kilometers north of Dubrovnik along the Adriatic coast. 

Originally the summer estate of the noble Dubrovnik Gučetić-Gozze family in the late 15th century, the family requested ship captains to bring back seeds and plants from their travels, creating one of Europe’s oldest arboretums. Today, the 25.61-hectare (64-acre) protected monument of garden architecture integrates a Renaissance garden with villa, a neo-romantic garden from the early 20th century, a historic olive grove, and natural forests of oak, Aleppo pine, and Mediterranean cypress.

The collection features about 465 plant taxa from 111 families, including Mediterranean and European species (31%), Asian plants (22%), and American plants (17%), with exotic specimens like flowering cactuses, eucalyptus, palms, and giant Asian plane trees over 500 years old at the entrance.

The grounds also include a Renaissance-Baroque garden with a fountain and stone aqueduct built in 1492, a chapel, a Baroque fountain, graceful stone arches, and a walking promenade overlooking the deep blue Adriatic Sea.