The Curitiba Botanical Gardens look like something out of a lost age. Constructed in 1991 to resemble French royal gardens, the entire grounds are drenched in luxurious elegance.

Flowers line the pathways to the Botanical Garden as visitors enter the gates toward the greenhouse. Each hedge is constructed carefully, and successfully channels the gardens of Versailles’s backyard. The greenhouse itself is the highlight of the gardens, set gracefully against the backdrop of Curitiba’s skyline.

The greenhouse is not impressive in size. It is only a hair over 450 square meters. However, its design is so arresting it steals the eye of any visitor who explores the garden.

It is an art nouveau construction, employing metal and glass to sculpt its three peaks into a solitary monument dedicated to the beauty of nature. White metal wraps around the entire structure, carving out an intricate design across the greenhouse and truly setting the building apart from the rest of the similarly striking gardens.

Like the greenhouse settled within it, the park is not enormous, but it is unique in some sense. While most lavish botanical gardens are created in a climate that cannot support its flora, many of the plants in the Curitiba Botanical Gardens are culled from the local vegetation. Due to this, the wooden botanical museum that snakes behind the greenhouse has attracted researchers to the area since its creation. It is open to the general public everyday and an ideal place to take a break from the fast-paced city life in Curitiba.