Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-N. A. Avrorin Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Where coffee, lemons and palm trees grow in the Far North, you can see exotic flowers - orchids and lilies - and an oasis even in the most bitter frost? In the Khibiny! This is not a joke: at the foot of the mountains in Kirovsk is located the Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institute named after N. A. Avrorin of the KNC RAS.

PABSI is a unique institution where several generations of researchers and gardeners have collected the richest collections of plants representing the diverse flora of the Globe.

The official date of his birth is considered to be August 26, 1931 - on this day, the project of botanist Nikolai Alexandrovich Avrorin on the organization of the Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden was approved. In 1967, it received the status of an institute. The polar oasis is located along the banks of the lower reaches of the Voodyavryok River, on the slopes, top and in the grandiose Botanical Circus of Voodyavrchorr Mountain and on the slopes of Takhtarvumchorr Mountain. A total of 1,670 hectares. Excursions take place in the garden: to open-ground nurseries, where plants from different parts of the world live, but adapted thanks to scientists to the conditions of the North; greenhouses of tropical and subtropical plants (there are more than 1000 plant species here alone), to the museum of the history and development of the botanical garden.

Plant collections are presented in nurseries and special expositions: "Snowdrop Garden", "Rocky Garden", "Living Herbarium". The museum, opened on August 26, 2001 in honor of the 70th anniversary of the garden-Institute, has expositions: the history of the development of botanical science in the region; the history of the formation and development of PABSI; the director's building of PABSI. Employees of the Institute are engaged not only in the study and cultivation of plants. Back in Soviet times, the technology of processing northern berries for sugar-free juice, extraction of glucose molasses from lichens was invented here.

There is an insectarium in the garden-institute with a collection of northern populations of entomophages. These are insects that destroy pests and help preserve crops. And in the living corner you can meet smaller brothers from chinchillas to deer and horses. There are 10 species of mammals, amphibians and fish in total. Children are willingly photographed with them, and some can be picked up and stroked. Another unique opportunity for tourists is to walk along the ecological trail, where the vegetation of different high—altitude zones of the Khibiny Mountains is presented. Wedding photo shoots are also held in the garden Institute. Greenhouses are open throughout the year, the park area is available from June to September. Visiting the ecological trail is possible in the summer by request.