Bucharest’s fabulous Botanical Gardens were founded in 1860 with the significant financial backing of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, at the time the leader of the nascent Romanian state. Completed in 1866 to the designs and instructions of Ulrich Hoffmann, they were originally in the grounds of the Cotroceni Monastery, moving to their present location in 1884. The garden, administratively part of Bucharest University’s Botanical Institute, today extends over an area of more than 17 hectares, and hosts more than 10,000 species of plants, approximately half of which are cultivated in the impressive glasshouses.