{"id":1602,"date":"2026-09-26T06:56:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T06:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/?post_type=luogo&p=1602"},"modified":"2026-09-30T18:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T18:15:15","slug":"giardino-esotico-pallanca","status":"publish","type":"luogo","link":"https:\/\/visitbordighera.com\/en\/places\/giardino-esotico-pallanca\/","title":{"rendered":"Giardino Esotico Pallanca"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the Arziglia hill, where the last slopes of Monte Nero run down to the sea, the Giardino Esotico Pallanca holds one of the richest collections of cacti and succulents in Europe: more than 3,000 varieties spread over 10,000 square metres of terraces and little stairways cut into the rock. It is a private botanical garden, the work of four generations of the Pallanca family, and has been open to the public since 1989.<\/p>\n

A family story four generations long<\/h2>\n

It all began in 1861, when Giacomo Pallanca left the family olive groves in Airole, in the Roya valley, to work in Bordighera alongside the German botanist Ludwig Winter, the landscape gardener who gave the Riviera many of its most famous gardens. He worked with Winter for over twenty years, and his son Bartolomeo grew up at his side.<\/p>\n

In 1910 Bartolomeo Pallanca set up on his own and created a nursery of ornamental plants and flowers. After the interruption of the war years he resumed the business with his son Giacomo, and together they decided to specialise in succulents. The nursery soon became a point of reference: several plants from the Pallanca collection even ended up in the cactus gardens on Montju\u00efc in Barcelona, the Jardins de Moss\u00e8n Costa i Llobera.<\/p>\n

In 1989 Barth Pallanca, Giacomo\u2019s son, opened the garden to visitors, turning it into a private botanical museum. Today it is run by the Associazione Culturale Botanica Giardino Esotico Pallanca, founded by the family, while the nursery business continues next door.<\/p>\n

A rock garden on Monte Nero<\/h2>\n

The garden spreads across the ochre-coloured sandstone rocks of Monte Nero. Terraces, low walls and steps carved into the stone give the collection the look of a large rock garden, where paths alternate with shady areas, spots to rest and viewpoints over the sea and the bay of Bordighera. The plants are arranged by area of origin, and the mild climate of the Riviera allows them to be grown outdoors all year round.<\/p>\n

What to see<\/h2>\n