Szarvas - Arboretum / Pepi Garden

In the north of the town is the famous arboretum, also known as Pepi-kert (Pepi Garden) after the pet name of its founder. When József Count Bolza, the Guards officer of the imperial army, took leave of the town around 1830 he had a 5ha (12 acre) botanical garden laid out on his land in Szarvas, modeled on the gardens at Schönbrunn. His grandson Pál Bolza had the gardens moved from the Anna Woods to their present site because of river control of the Körös. Following his death the arboretum which had expanded to 42ha (210 acres) passed into state ownership. Today there are 1660 species of tree from all over the world on 84ha (420 acres), including such rare examples as the gingko, the sacred tree of the Japanese, and the Californian giant redwood. The yellow-brown leaves of the Japanese maple are especially beautiful in autumn.