Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

Villa Thuret is a botanical garden created in 1858 by Gustave Adolphe Thuret, a botanist specializing in algae. Located in Antibes for health reasons, Thuret is conducting trials of exotic plant acclimation in collaboration with Édouard Bornet and the National Museum of Natural History. This site becomes a Mediterranean annex to the Jardin des Plantes de Paris, playing a key role in the diffusion of ornamental species on the French Riviera.

After Thuret's death in 1875, Édouard Bornet continued their work. In 1877, Louise Fould, her sister-in-law, bought the property and gave it to the French state, provided that she retained her name and was dedicated to scientific teaching. The Villa was first attached to the Ministry of Public Instruction and then to INRAE (formerly INRA) in 1927. Georges Poirault, director from 1899, restored the garden after a period of abandonment.

The garden, open to the public, now houses 2,500 trees and shrubs of 1,600 species, adapted to the Mediterranean climate. It has a 70,000 plank herbarium and a historical library. Villa Thuret is labeled Remarkable Garden (2007), Remarkable Trees (2015), and Maison des Illustres (2019), highlighting its scientific and cultural heritage.

The collections include species from 380 regions of the world, acclimatized according to biodiversity protocols. The site also hosts partners such as the National Botanical Conservatory of the Mediterranean and the CPIE of the Lérins Islands. In 2011, a herbarium rehabilitation project was launched with the support of INRAE and the Alpes-Maritimes department.

Thuret's house, transformed into a laboratory over time, maintains a room dedicated to the botanist and its library of 2,000 titles, including 116 rare works. The garden, described by George Sand as a "Eden", remains an emblematic place for the research and preservation of Mediterranean flora.

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