Spices were grown on Seychelles islands many years ago. But their trading started only after the Europeans had arrived there, in the middle of the 18th century. At that time the French had developed the technological process of commercial cultivation of spices, organized plantations, and arranged export of the expensive product to other countries.

You can find out more about how this field developed, which spices the trade had started with, and what kind of aromatic and healthy plants grow on the islandsб in the Jardin Du Roi Spice Garden Museum.

The first similar spice garden appeared in Takamaka in 1772, when the islands were under the control of Britain. Unfortunately, it wasn’t preserved because in 1780, a French Lieutenant, worried that pirates were going to rob the garden, set the plantations on fire. They were restored only 50 years later, and not in their original place, but at the spot, where the  Jardin Du Roi Spice Garden is located now. The new territory turned out to be more convenient and suitable for cultivating a vast assortment of aromatic and healthy plants.

The  Jardin Du Roi Spice Garden can’t be called a museum in its traditional meaning. It’s more of a  beautiful garden where you can walk and enjoy the aromas on your own or use the services of a guide who will tell you what grows on such big territory of the natural museum, what kind of spices are used and how, why some of them are popular and the others are undeservingly deprived of attention.

A few years ago, the  Jardin Du Roi Spice Garden ancient buildings were restored and filled with small historical collections. So, at the farm house, you can learn intriguing facts about the history of Takamaka. In the storage, you will find out how spices were processed and preserved one century ago.

The Jardin Du Roi Spice Garden is an unusual place. It’s definitely worth visiting to get an idea of how vanilla, cardamon, caraway, and other spices grow. Species, so familiar to us, that we use almost every day, but, as a rule, don’t know much about them.