Municipal Palm House in Gliwice

The Municipal Palm House in Gliwice stands at Fredry 6, in Fryderyk Chopin Park, next to Chopin Park. The building has a usable area of about 2,000 m² and more than 5,600 plants grow in it, the oldest specimens being over 150 years old. In front of the main entrance there are sculptures of lions.

How the palm house came about

The first greenhouses in the park were built around 1880, and the present palm house in 1924.

Since then the building has been rebuilt many times. The oldest specimens include Canary Island date palms from 1924. The palm house is a municipal unit run by the Municipal Communal Services Authority (Miejski Zarząd Usług Komunalnych).

Five pavilions

The interior is divided into five themed pavilions.

• Pavilion I shows useful plants from the subtropical climate.
• Pavilion II presents plants from tropical rainforests with cascades and water tanks in which, among others, piranhas swim.
• Pavilion III is the historic one and gathers the oldest specimens, including the date palms mentioned above.
• Pavilion IV holds succulents: almost 2,000 cacti and other water-storing plants, from eight-metre cereus to tiny lithops.
• Pavilion V, devoted to aquariums, was opened in 2012. It shows four freshwater environments: the Amazon in a tank with a capacity of 60,000 litres, Lake Tanganyika, Polish rivers and the waters of South-East Asia.

In the first four pavilions there are also terrariums with reptiles, aquariums with turtles and stingrays, cages with parrots and canaries, and a terrarium with leaf insects.

Nearby

The palm house neighbours Villa Caro and lies not far from the Gliwice Radio Tower, so it combines well with other stops on a walk around Gliwice. For groups there is a guided-tour offer and the "Path of Knowledge", and the unit's website has a virtual walk.

Practical information

• Address: Fredry 6, 44-100 Gliwice.
• Hours according to the unit's website: Monday closed, Tuesday-Friday 9-18, Saturday, Sunday and holidays 10-18. Check them before your visit.
• Group bookings: the telephone number given on mzuk.gliwice.pl.
• The unit's website provides information on facilities for people with disabilities. Check the details there.