{"id":307188,"date":"2025-07-29T12:17:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T10:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monaco-tribune.com\/2025\/07\/5-anecdotes-on-a-prickly-subject-cacti-in-monaco\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T12:21:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T10:21:35","slug":"5-anecdotes-on-a-prickly-subject-cacti-in-monaco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monaco-tribune.com\/en\/2025\/07\/5-anecdotes-on-a-prickly-subject-cacti-in-monaco\/","title":{"rendered":"5 anecdotes on a prickly subject – cacti in Monaco"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cacti are in the spotlight this summer in Monaco with the Cactus<\/em> exhibition at the New National Museum of Monaco. It explores how these uniquely-shaped plants have inspired artists over the last century. So we decided to look for some ‘cactivating’ anecdotes about these plants!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Monaco recently put on a rather unusual show. In March 2024,\u00a0a one-tonne cactus was moved by crane\u00a0<\/a>during work on the Jardin Exotique.\u00a0“It’s really not a common sight. I think we’ll only see it once in our lives,”<\/em>\u00a0said one worker as the giant took to the air.<\/p>\n\n

1. Augustin Gastaud, the pioneer<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

At the start of the 19th century, Augustin Gastaud, head gardener at the Saint-Martin gardens, planted a collection of succulents near the future Oceanographic Museum. The passionate collector of exotic plants from Mexico had no idea that he was about to write one of the finest pages in the Principality’s botanical history. Fascinated by the unique collection, Prince Albert I, who was already famous for his oceanographic explorations, decided to create a garden entirely dedicated to succulents, which were little known in Europe at the time. In 1912, he acquired the Observatory promontory to house the ‘curiosities’. <\/p>\n\n

Building the Jardin Exotique, between 1913 and 1933, was an architectural challenge. Huge hundred-year-old cacti had to be moved from Le Rocher to the new site on the hillside without damaging them. Special packaging was created by employees of Louis Notari, a Public Works engineer. Some of the specimens in Augustin Gastaud’s original collection have now reached gigantic proportions.<\/p>\n

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\"stand-jardin-exotique-monaco-genes\"
\u00a9 Gaetan Luci \/ Prince’s Palace<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

2. The Kuentz family, inspired by Monaco’s cacti<\/h2>\n\n

The Kuentz family, cactus growers since 1907 in Belfort, travelled to the C\u00f4te d’Azur in 1934. The aim of their trip was to study the Jardin Exotique in Monaco, which had opened the previous year. Joseph-\u00c9mile was accompanied by his son Robert, who worked alongside him, and his daughters Madeleine and Marguerite. After visiting the rockeries at the Parc de la T\u00eate d’Or in Lyon and the Albert 1er gardens in Nice, they came to the Jardin Exotique in Monaco, which had just been inaugurated. They were instantly and deeply in awe: discovering the\u00a0“giant cacti and succulents in an almost natural setting,”<\/em>\u00a0they realised that\u00a0“the plants grown in the greenhouses at Belfort seemed ridiculous”<\/em>\u00a0in comparison. This epiphany turned their vision on its head and sealed the fate of the horticultural dynasty.<\/p>\n\n

Princess Caroline visits Cactus exhibition at Villa Sauber<\/a><\/blockquote>