Giardino Botanico Alpino Chanousia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Giardino Botanico Alpino Chanousia (about 10,000 m²) is an alpine botanical garden located at 2170 meters altitude near Mont Blanc, in Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo, La Thuile, Aosta Valley, Italy. It is open daily in the warmer months.
The garden was first established in 1897 by Abbot Pierre Chanoux, and in its best years contained about 2500 species of mountain plants from the Alps and around the world. It was badly damaged during World War II, and restored starting in 1978. Today the garden contains about 1200 species which flourish in a short growing spell (two months) between heavy winters with snowfall ranging from 4-8 meters.
