Konya Tropical Butterfly Garden

In Konya’s Selçuklu district stands an unusual butterfly-shaped building housing the Tropical Butterfly Garden, also known as Butterfly Valley. It is the first park of its kind in Turkey and one of the largest in Europe. Beneath its glass dome lies a warm tropical world with hundreds of exotic plants, quiet pools and fountains. Dozens of butterfly species live here, having arrived as pupae from tropical countries and opened their wings inside the garden. The interior remains warm and humid like a true equatorial forest, while special glass admits light as though the roof were open sky. A neighbouring insect museum explains the lives and extraordinary transformations of butterflies.

The garden was conceived not simply as an attraction but as a carefully protected refuge for tropical nature. Its staff try to preserve the fragile world of butterflies and plants as it exists in the wild, caring for vegetation gently and without chemicals or pesticides so that nothing disrupts the delicate balance.