Alcsút Arboretum Nature Reserve Area

 park, arboretum

The Alcsút Arboretum Nature Reserve Area is situated in abt. 100 acre area at the foot of the mountains Vértes. It is one of the most valuable collections of woody plants in Hungary. The heart of the Arboretum is the sometime park of the residence of Archduke Joseph Anton Johann of Austria, Palatine of Hungary (1776 – 1847, in Hungarian József nádor), who was the Palatine of Hungary from 1796 to 1847. He was the seventh son of Emperor Leopold II of Austria and Maria Louisa of Spain.
The Palatine bought this beautiful area of diversified scenery in 1818. On the basis of projects of architect Mihály Pollack one of the most beautiful Classic residences of Hungary was built here in a short time. Around the building an English garden of 44 hectares was created, with hundreds of exotic and domestic plant and tree species, as a result of the activity of the Royal Court gardeners, the Tost gardener dinasty.
In 1825 the Palatine began to introduce special rare species of plants and trees in the valley, creating the basis of the present Arboretum. The Hungarian poet, János Vajda was employed here between 1845-46 as farm manager assistant.
The Classic residence built between 1819-27 was almost completely distroyed in the II. World War, only the portico with the Ionic columns remained.
Apart from this part of the main front some outhouses can be seen, e.g. the Babaház (Doll’s house) in Classic style on the István hill and the Gloriette built in 1880. A chapel in Romanesque style was built to the north wing of the palace in 1880, on the basis of projects of Ferenc Stornó.
The garden in the style of an English landscape garden is very interesting, with its walking pathes and clearings. In the valley there is a charming pond supplied with water by two small streams, flowing past the Arboretum. The streams are spanned over by old wooden and stone bridges.
The Arboretum together with the Csaplári forest is a nature reserve area and a bird reserve.
An extraordinary one of species in the arboretum is the North-American deciduous baldcypress (Taxonium distichum), on the small island of the pond, which have a peculiarity of growth called cypress knees. These are woody projections sent above the ground or water that are part of the root system. These knees can be found even 15 metres away from the tree.