In 1783, the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country asked the City Council to grant them a plot of land for the creation of a nursery for ornamental trees. The idea was to plant species there that would later adorn the city, in keeping with the spirit of 18th-century urban renewal. The organization proposed “a vacant lot northeast of Santo Tomé, very suitable for the purpose”. The City Council granted the request, and with the addition of an adjacent vegetable garden, the Friends of the Country leveled the site, equipped it with two irrigation ponds, and within four years demonstrated that “hard work is enough to transform a swampy and filthy place into a delightful and fruitful site.”

The site certainly responded well to the project, and just a few years later, the idea of turning it into a botanical garden was already being considered—a plan that came to fruition in 1801. By then, the walnut and chestnut trees in the Alameda and other areas of Segovia were already being sourced from there. The oldest specimens in the current park—an oak and a cedar—are believed to date from this period.

Years later, it returned to municipal ownership, and after various vicissitudes and renovations, it has come down to us as the Urban Biodiversity Center—a space that has become an important educational resource thanks to the “Segovia Educates in Green” program.

Currently, its 6,080 m² of land is home to the most representative species of our major flora—that is, trees, shrubs, and bushes from the ecosystems found in Segovia—as well as decorative, aromatic, and medicinal plants.