Overview
One of the oldest gardens in Europe
Just across the French-Italian border, near the Petit St Bernard pass, you can find the Chanousia Botanical Garden. Immersed in an Alpine landscape of rare beauty, the Garden is one of the oldest in Europe: it stands more than 2,000 metres high and is 8,000 square metres in size.
Inaugurated in 1897 by Abbot Pierre Chanoux, from whom it derives its name, this immense green space is a veritable botanical museum, housing and preserving the various species present in the Alpine arc, placed within an ecological framework that corresponds to the needs of each one and grouped according to geographical origin.
The Chanousia Botanical Garden is divided into themed areas and is also home to plants from other mountain ranges, Himalayas, Caucasus and Pyrenees in primis. The area is home to many medicinal plants and carnivorous species.
You can stroll among marvellous flowers, ranging from the Edelweiss to the Queen of the Alps, and visit the small historical museum housed within the Garden.
Via Piccolo S. Bernardo, 11016 La Thuile AO, Italy
