Botanical Garden of the Comenius University (Slovak: Botanická záhrada UK) is the only botanical garden in Bratislava the capital of Slovakia. It is located between the Old Town and Karlova Ves districts by the river Danube and it contains over 4,000 plant species (including 1,200 species of cacti) covering an area of 7 hectares.

Botanical Garden of the Comenius University is the oldest public botanical garden in Slovakia.[2] It is open to the public only from 1 April to 31 October each year during the day and the entrance is paid.

Botanical Garden of the Comenius University was established on 23 January 1942 by the decree of the Ministry of Education and Propaganda. Its construction was supervised by professor František Nábělek, the Head of the Botanical Office.

As the most suitable location for its establishment, it was decided to build the new botanical garden at the place around the villa of Mr. Lafranconi in Mlynská dolina. The land lot in question had 6,6 hectares, constant water source and the location was convenient for both students and citizens of Bratislava.

After the Second World War an irrigation system was built as well as greenhouses and over 3,000 plant species were planted. Since 1952, the botanical garden successfully exchanged seeds with over 530 foreign botanical gardens.

Current director of the Botanical Garden of the Comenius University is Jaroslav Bella. It features two detached workplaces:

Blatnica - is a phyto-gene fund in Blatnica, Slovakia, 8 hectares in area. Research here is focused on the ecology of endangered plant species in natural ecosystems of the Western Carpathians.
Stupava - is a plant laboratory in Stupava, Slovakia, 20 hectares in area. It provides facilities for research and development of new plant species, especially peaches and apricots, and also for research of endangered plant species of the local lowlands and hills. Its dendrological collection includes 238 different species.


urrent exposition is divided between greenhouse plants and outdoor plants. One of the most popular parts of the exposition is the rosarium with over 120 species of roses. The botanical garden features also a small japanese garden.