The Mlyňany Arboretum of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

History

Arboretum Mlyňany is located nearby Zlaté Moravce, in the cadastre of villages Tesárske Mlyňany and Vieska nad Žitavou. Arboretum was established by a Hungarian nobleman, Dr. Štefan Ambrózy-Migazzi, in the year 1892 and it represents the greatest collection of wooden plants in Slovakia.

Dr. Štefan Ambrózy-Migazzi, the founder of Arboretum Mlyňany, was born in Nizze in 1869. After graduating from high school in Terezian in Vienna, he studied law at universities in Vienna and Budapest. He was fascinated by evergreen trees since his childhood. His passion was also encouraged by frequent journeys in southern Europe. These journeys inspired him to create the Arboretum.

Thanks to his marriage with Antónia Migazziová in 1892, he gained a mill manor. Later he bought the oak-hornbeam grove in Vieska nad Žitavou as a part of his manor.

Jozef Mišák, a specialist coming from Hořice in Czech Republic, participated in the building of the park from the very beginning. The area of oak-hornbeam grove was 40 hectares large and there were gradually added new trees imported from Germany, France and England. The main goal was to plant the highest number of foreign wooden trees and prove that they can sustain in our Slovak conditions.

Under the leadership of builder Guttmann, the manor-house was finished in 1894. The building of the characteristic tower was finished in 1905. The first plantings were realized near the manor-house in 1894. The junipers (borievka virgínska) were planted on the corners of the manor-house and (cezmína ostrolistá) near its backside.

Except for these species, there was also planted laurel (vavrínovec lekársky - Laurocerasusofficinalis), heather (vresovec mäsový - Ericacarnea), pachysandra vrcholová (Pachysandraterminalis) and experimentally indigo tree (indigovník - Indigoferagerardiana).

After finishing the building of the manor-house the great landscaping was done in its surroundings to create a garden uniform in style. As a result, there were terraces created supported by long stone walls. The part of the platform in front of the manor-house is parterre. The system of terraces provides appropriate conditions as a stand for species requiring light and drought. They ripen very well in the autumn and do not suffer so much from frost. In 1901, there was a significantly broadened range of evergreen species. It achieved its peak in 1905 – 1910 when the basic assortment of species was obtained.

Ambrózy left the Arboretum in 1914. He asked J.Mišákov to take care of it and he settled down in his property in Tana in Hungary. He founded an arboretum in Jela in Hungary, where he continued the job and developed his gardening skills. However, the insidious disease together with other circumstances made it impossible to finish his piece of work. He died in 1933. J. Mišák continued with the landscaping of the building even without the owner's funds. In 1925, about 300 taxa of sempervirens (evergreen trees) were collected in the Arboretum. As a tireless advocate and propagandist of the Sempervirents, he stood up for their defense in the controversy that arose after the catastrophic winter of 1928/1929. Despite his advanced age and deteriorating health, he was constantly trying to introduce another successor. He died in December 1939.  As a co-founder of the Arboretum, he credited the building a world-famous name. 

After 1931, the gardener Jozef Richtár, a conscientious and devoted pupil of J. Mišák gradually took care of the building.

He urged for the building to pass into the hands of the state. After the war, the building was nationalized and passed to the Board of Education and Enlightenment.

The arboretum was declared a nature reserve and became an independent scientific institute of the Faculty of Science of Comenius University. Experienced gardener Daniel Kovalovský began rescuing, reconstructing and expanding the building. It was not an easy task, because the main trees were aged and weakened. He undertook this mission successfully. He also actively contributed to the introduction of many foreign woody plants. Later, the Arboretum was taken over by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, which still manages it.

Description of the park

The area of ​​the park with an acreage of ​​67 ha is divided on the base of geographical principle. It consists of the oldest central part - Ambrózy Park (40 ha) with a beautiful manor house, East Asian Area (14 ha), North American Area (7.5 ha) and Korean Area (5.5 ha). Visitors here can be acquainted with the flora originating from Central and Front Asia, the Far East, Japan, China, the Himalayas, the Caucasus, and various other parts of the world. 

The vegetation is associated with the typical architecture of individual areas, complemented by ponds. The Arboretum in Mlyňany offers the possibility of romantic walks in intertwined footpaths with admiration of various types of trees, flowers and shrubs. 

The park's information system will provide you with a voice explanation in six European languages, which will clarify what is in each part of the park and what needs to be noticed.

Fauna and flora of the park

Mlyňany Arboretum will charm you with its beautiful secluded places. They are fulfilled with woody plants from all over the world. The arboretum is the most visited during rhododendron blossom at the end of  April and the beginning of March. You can find pods with large numbers of fish in the park. One of the most beautiful and the most visited zones of the Arboretum is the East Asian part.

The individual dendro-exposures in the park are divided into five learning paths, on which special trees are planted:

1. Ambrózy semper vireo park:

• commemorative trees such as Turkey Oak, Pedunculate/English Oak or Rockhampton Red are remnants of the original forest cover. They are 150-200 years old.
• around 100 years old species of Red Cedar, Western Red Cedar, American Arborvitae, Lawson’s cypress, Japanese Cedar, China-fir, Giant Sequoia, Ponderosa Pine, Scotch Pine, Austrian Pine, Caucasian Fir, Norway Spruce, Oriental Spruce and English Yew.
• in the undergrowth of the old species of English Holly, Japanese Pieris, Honeysuckle, Burkwood Viburnum and Leatherleaf Viburnum.

2. .  Area of the East Asian dendriform

• trees that represent dendriform of Central Asia, Caucasus, Korea, Japan, China (northern, central and southern part), Himalayas and Far East (for example: Oriental Spruce, Dahurian Larch, Caucasian Fir, Veitch’s Silver-Fir, Oriental Arborvitae, Sinensis Oak (Quercus), Japanese Oak ect.)

3. Area of North American dendriform

• Woody plants representing dendriform from Canada to California and Mexico (Blue Spruce, White Fir, Balsam Fir, American Arborvitae, Western Red Cedar, Lawson’s cypress, Red Oak, Silver Maple etc.

4. Area of Korean dendriform:

• Coniferous and broadleaf trees from North Korea, Japanese red pine and Oriental Arborvitae prevails.

5.  Area of the autochthonic dendriform of Slovakia

● presentation of the dendriform of Slovakia and cultivation of endangered dendrotaxons

Múdre stromy

Current use

Among the most important actions organized for the public are:

• Ambrozy days - a remembrance of the founder of the Mlyňany Arboretum, earl Dr. Štefan Ambrózy, promotion of public interest in Mlyňany Arboretum SAV - about scientific activity, educational program and possibilities for rest
• Visitor’s day in Mlyňany Arboretum SAV during Week of Science and Technology in Slovakia - during November
• Creative workshops - the whole year
• Schooling in bio-ecological subjects with the usage of multimedia technology and interactive games - the whole year
• Professional lectures - arranged by professional and non-professional public

There is an ornamental plant shop open in the Arboretum. It offers for sale quality seed material. The majority is grown directly in Arboretum, due to our climatic conditions.

Arboretum is also a very important place of scientific research. It creates a database of the current collection gene pool, the interaction of plants with endophytic mushrooms, the physiological conditions for maximizing the production of phytomass is of specific plants, the principles of the transition of plants to invasive behavior in many other areas.

Contact

ARBORÉTUM MLYŇANY SAV
Vieska nad Žitavou, č.178
951 52 pošta Slepčany

ústredňa (switch board) - č.t.: 037/6334211 

arboretum.mlynany@savba.sk

Plan your way

Opening hours

Opening hours and entrance fees

Visiting days

For further information call: 037/6334211

Fees

Entrance fee

Addition to entrance fee:

The guide is not responsible for children during tours or educational programs.

Pedagogical supervisor: Free entry for one teacher per 20 children.

A PROVE OF IDENTITY IS REQUIRED TO GIVE ENTITLEMENT TO A DISCOUNT!

Payments are possible in cash or by transfer order.

Payment by card is not possible!

A pedagogical supervisor is obliged to oversee the group during the whole visit to  Arborétum Mlyňany SAV.

Accessibility of the park