The Botanical Garden of Craiova bears the name of the one who had the initiative of its establishment in 1952, namely the university professor Alexandru Buia, based on some 50-year-old initial plans of the French landscape architect Emile Redont. Alexandru Buia, who was professor of botany and later rector of the Institute of Agronomy in Craiova, turned these plans into reality, and the current Botanical Garden was thought of as a scientific, didactic and educational institution, being organized as an university botanical garden.  During the period of maximum development of the garden, there were over 3,000 specimens of deciduous and coniferous trees, as well as over 900 exotic species, all of them of great scientific and decorative value. Currently, the usable area is about 12.8 ha., having also 3 artificial lakes with an area of about 0.3 ha. Inside the garden there is also a greenhouse with a total area of 750 sqm, where we find a collection of over 100 species of cacti, in a wide variety of forms. We can also admire plants and trees from all corners of the world, some can be easily recognized, while others are completely unknown in our country. The Botanical Garden also has a Herbarium, which at present contains about 50,000 sheets of great scientific value, which are permanently available to teachers, researchers and students, but also to all those interested and passionate about botany. The “Alexandru Buia” Botanical Garden is known both nationally and internationally, being included since 1974 in the International Association of Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Garden has recently become again a place of promenade and relaxation for the people of Craiova, after the renovation of the spring of 2016, generously offering the inhabitants of Craiova a well-deserved recreation refuge in the middle of nature.