Karaca Arboretum: Türkiye’s First Private Arboretum

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1. What is Karaca Arboretum?
2. How do you get to Karaca Arboretum?
3. When is the best time to visit Karaca Arboretum?
4. What is the history of Karaca Arboretum?
5. What is Karaca Arboretum famous for?
6. What can you see at Karaca Arboretum?
7. Frequently asked questions about Karaca Arboretum
8. What do the official records say about Karaca Arboretum?

What is Karaca Arboretum?

The Karaca Arboretum is a private botanical collection of trees and plants in Yalova, created by Hayrettin Karaca from 1980. Spread over 13.5 hectares, it holds about 7,000 species, subspecies, varieties and cultivars, with strong collections of maples, cherries and plums, apples, magnolias, oaks, birches, pines, firs and spruces. The Yalova Culture and Tourism Directorate describes it as Türkiye’s first private arboretum.

It is a garden for plant lovers rather than a park: visits are guided, and the focus is on the trees themselves, their bark, leaves and seasonal changes.

How do you get to Karaca Arboretum?

The arboretum is near Yalova town. From Istanbul, take an İDO ferry to Yalova or drive over the Osmangazi Bridge; from the town, a taxi is the simplest way to reach the gate. Because visits are arranged on set days or by appointment, confirm before you go.

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When is the best time to visit Karaca Arboretum?

The 2002 inventory gives a guide to the seasons. Spring brings the finest views of the flowering season. Autumn, with the astonishing colours of the leaves, is the most mysterious season of the year. December and January, when the trees stand bare, inspire more discerning visitors and allow close study, and the last months of the year are brightened by the yellow and white of bulbs such as snowdrops and crocuses.

Opening hours change through the year, so check them before you visit (Yalova Culture and Tourism Directorate). Arrangements can change, so check before travelling.

What is the history of Karaca Arboretum?

Hayrettin Karaca, a businessman and later co-founder of TEMA, the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, began planting the collection in 1980. In June 2004 it received an award from the International Dendrology Society, presented on 27 June 2004; it was the fifteenth arboretum or collection garden to receive it. The directorate puts annual visitor numbers at about 15,000.

What is Karaca Arboretum famous for?

• Autumn colour, especially the Japanese maples.
• Spring blossom of cherries, apples and magnolias.
• Rare and endangered trees, including the Nebrodi fir.
• Its link with TEMA, which receives the entry donations.

What can you see at Karaca Arboretum?

The Nebrodi fir. The inventory points out that the arboretum’s Nebrodi fir is one of the world’s endangered, protected trees. It grows naturally in Italy, and the inventory notes that, as one of the last 18 trees of this fir species, it is worth seeing.

Birches. The white-trunked birch, or Betula, which drops its leaves early, is held sacred by some peoples of Central Asia, and its wood was used to make totems, the inventory explains. Substances obtained from its trunk are useful in making medicines.

Japanese maples. With their coloured leaves, they enchant visitors in autumn with the finest shades of red.

The plant collections. Maples, cherries, apples, magnolias, oaks, pines, firs and spruces are grouped so that you can compare species side by side.

The nursery, which the directorate says is open every day.

Planning your visit

Wear shoes you can walk in on grass and paths, and bring a camera: the arboretum is popular with photographers and painters, as the inventory noted in 2002. Because the visit is guided, arrive on time for the start of a tour. Entry donations go to TEMA, the foundation Hayrettin Karaca set up to fight soil erosion and promote reforestation.

A day in Yalova can combine the arboretum with Termal, for its baths and gardens, and the Yürüyen Köşk in Yalova town. Spring and autumn suit all three.

Frequently asked questions about Karaca Arboretum

What do the official records say about Karaca Arboretum?

The Karaca Arboretum in Yalova, right beside Istanbul, is famous for its thousand and one kinds of plants. With its accommodation and its healing waters, Yalova offers a setting that is both restful and a colourful way to spend a weekend. The unique beauty of the arboretum, entered for a fee in aid of the TEMA Foundation, is made up of 7,000 herbaceous and bulbous plants and 7,000 woody plants.

Visitors to the arboretum gather the dry leaves of curious shapes and colours that pile up at the foot of the trees, to use in decoration, accessories and pictures. Art and nature lovers who want to take these beauties home with them try to do so by painting and taking photographs. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Yalova Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)