The Arzamas Arboretum is a Natural Monument of regional significance in the city of Arzamas, established in 1949–1950 by the Arzamas Forestry Technical College for educational and experimental purposes.[1] It covers an area of 12 hectares and serves as one of the popular places for walks among residents and visitors of the city.[2]

History and Collection

The arboretum was established by the faculty and students of the forestry technical college. Planting material for the collection was sourced from botanical gardens across the country, including the NNSU Botanical Garden and the Ivanteevka nursery of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Forestry and Forest Mechanization. The collection was used for educational and outreach purposes for students and schoolchildren, as well as for guided tours.[1]

The 2020–2021 Landscaping Works

In 2020–2021, the arboretum underwent large-scale landscaping works as part of the development of the pilgrimage and tourism cluster "Arzamas — Diveevo — Sarov," becoming the third cluster facility completed in the city. The total cost of the works amounted to 21 million rubles.[1]

Hazardous trees and standing dead wood were removed from the grounds; 923 new saplings were planted to replace the lost specimens, including species exotic for the central Russian belt — boxwood, mulberry, Amur cork tree, and Oregon grape. Banksian pine, which had survived as a single specimen by that time, was restored to ten trees. The arboretum received a fence with six entrance groups, lighting, wooden benches, and eco-trails totaling approximately 3 km in length. The navigation system includes 40 signs with QR codes containing information about rare tree and shrub species; these were produced by the Arzamas Extracurricular Activities Center as part of the project "Optimizing the Search for Information on Green Plantings through the Introduction of QR Codes," which received a grant in the "Serafimovskaya School of Service" competition.[1]

The head of Arzamas, Alexander Shchelokov, described the preservation and expansion of the dendrological collection as a significant achievement and noted the need for continued care of the plants and the grounds.[1] In 2021, guided tour routes were launched at the arboretum.[2]

Place in the Urban Environment

The arboretum is considered as part of a unified complex with the surrounding areas: Gaydar Park, the square by the water tower, and the Eternal Flame. In 2026, as part of the same "Arzamas — Diveevo — Sarov" cluster, a project for an extreme park on Zhukovsky Street was approved; its concept provides for pedestrian routes along the arboretum and the technical college grounds.

Sources

  1. Vremya N — More than 920 rare plants were planted in the Arzamas arboretum (archive)
  2. serafim.rf — The arboretum in Arzamas was founded in the mid-20th century by students and faculty of the forestry technical college for educational and experimental purposes. Today this 12-hectare site is… (archive)
Materials from articles used (1)

Approval of the extreme park project on Zhukovsky Street in Arzamas (2026)