Huerto del Cura

A botanical garden in Elche, a National Artistic Garden since 1943, with around a thousand palms, ponds, sculptures and the famous seven-armed Imperial Palm. An audio guide helps with the visit, and visitors praise the well-kept paths and the peacocks roaming freely.

Huerto del Cura is a botanical garden in Elche, located within the historic Palmeral palm grove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. In 1943 it was declared a Jardín Artístico Nacional (National Artistic Garden), on the same day as the Alhambra and the Generalife. It began as a family orchard, leased in 1846 by Andrés Castaño Peral. Its name, meaning "the priest's orchard", comes from the chaplain José Castaño Sánchez, who owned it until 1918. Its roughly 1.3 hectares hold around a thousand palms, mostly date palms, along with typical Mediterranean orchard trees such as pomegranates, jujubes, oranges, figs and lemons. Its most famous specimen is the Imperial Palm, a date palm about 165 years old with seven arms growing from its trunk. It was named after the visit of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sissi) in 1894, and a bust of her stands beside the palm. In the area known as the rocalla, a collection of cacti and succulents grows among rocks, surrounded by ponds. The sculptures include a replica of the Iberian Lady of Elche and a bust of James I the Conqueror, who took Elche from the Arabs in 1265. Some palms are named after well-known figures, including Miguel de Unamuno, Severo Ochoa, Óscar Esplá and King Alfonso XIII. Visitors praise the pretty, well-kept and well-labelled paths, and one reviewer also points out how clean the whole garden is. The garden is small, so it is an easy visit, also with children. According to reviews, peacocks wander freely along the paths, and ducks and turtles can be seen in the ponds; one visitor also mentions a white peacock. Visitors often mention the audio guide, and according to reviews there are toilets and a souvenir shop on site. The garden is a good complement to a walk through the Palmeral.