Parc Phœnix, Botanical garden and zoo in Nice, France
Parc Phœnix is a seven-hectare botanical garden and zoo in Nice's Arénas district, along the Promenade des Anglais. Its centrepiece is a 7,000-square-metre greenhouse, 25 metres high and 100 metres in diameter, covered by a 10,000-square-metre unsupported glass roof and divided into seven computer-controlled climate zones. Outside, gardens ring a 3,500-square-metre pool where pelicans, swans, geese, ducks and turtles live freely.
The park opened in February 1990 after extensive construction transformed the site over two years. Creation of the various environments required moving large amounts of soil and positioning numerous stones.
The park's name comes from Phoenix canariensis, the palm most common on the Côte d'Azur. Its gardens are organised around three themes: the plant's relations with humans, its environment and time. The greenhouse recreates seven climates by computer, from a tree-fern forest to a Louisiana garden with spectacled caimans.
The park lies at the southwestern entrance to Nice, in the l'Arénas district along the Promenade des Anglais, and is built around a central 3,500 m² pool. The 7,000 m² greenhouse, 25 m high and 100 m in diameter, holds seven computer-recreated climates, with aquariums and terrariums in the basement. The Asian Arts Museum, designed by Kenzo Tange, adjoins the park.
The greenhouse's seven climates are run by computer, and its 10,000 m² glass roof spans 100 metres without internal support. Below the planted zones, a basement level holds aquariums and terrariums with tropical fish, insects, myriapods and arachnids. Mandarin ducks, Chilean flamingos and iguanas move freely among the plants.
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