The Nikita Botanical Gardens, located in the settlement of Nikita in Greater Yalta, covers an area of over 1000 acres. The Nikita Gardens have a number of branches in the Crimea and Kherson region, and also include a forest reserve on the Cape Martyan coast. Dating from 1812, the Nikita Gardens in the world. Apart from being a large research center of biology and agriculture. It is also a picturesque park and a great tourist attraction. The Nikita Gardens are included in the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of Ukraine. The founder and first director of the Nikita Gardens was the Russian botanist and eminent researcher of the flora Tauro – Caucasian Christian Steven. The institute comprises scientific departments of the most extensive herbariums in Europe, the oldest Crimean library and a science museum with a wine tasting room. The Garden’s scientific collections comprise over 50000 species of plants form many countries of the world. There is a large department of selection which selects fruit-bearing, flower and essential-oil plants. The Nikita Gardens have selected over 360 species of plants since their foundation. In the year 2000, the Nikita Botanical Gardens were given the status of National Scientific Center.
