CYKASY
Encephalartos Altensteinii in Lednice Chateau Greenhouse
The Lednice - Valtice Cultural Landscape in Southern Moravia is one of the Czech monuments on the UNESCO list of the world heritage sites. The Lednice greenhouse is thus probably the only greenhouse on the UNESCO list. It lies within the Lednice Chateau complex, rebuilt to its current appearance in the XVII century (after the 30 Year War). Its Encephalartos altensteinii, several hundreds of years old, is the oldest Czech cycad.
The greenhouse is a technical landmark. It was built in 1843-1845 to house the Liechtensteins growing plant collections. The frame of the greenhouse is carried by cast-iron bamboo-shaped pillars, edged with superficial decorative leafs. Glass flakes are bicolour so as to easily distinguish the original parts of building from those reconstructed. The manor greenhouse is 92 meters long, 13 metres wide and 10 metres high.
See also: Liberec Botanic Garden photo gallery - with is coning Microcycas calocoma