Konya Tropical Butterfly Garden
Konya Tropical Butterfly Garden (Template:Lang-tr), opened in 2015, is a butterfly house located in Selçuklu district of Konya Province, central Turkey.[1][2]
The butterfly house was built by the Municipality of Selçuklu next to the "Selçuklu Flower Garden" ("Selçuklu Çiçek Bahçesi") and the "Adventure Tower" ("Macera Kulesi") inside the "Butterfly Valley Park" ("Kelebekler Vadisi Parkı"), one of the biggest urban parks in Selçuklu.[2] It was opned on 4 July 2015.[1] The building, which won the pprestigous Turkish architectural award "2018 Sign of the City", has the form of a butterfly. It covers an area of 7,600 m2 (82,000 sq ft) including walking areas of 3,500 m2 (38,000 sq ft). Kept at a constant climate of 26 °C (79 °F) temperature and 80% humidity all the year long, it is habitat for more than 20,000 tropical vegetation of 150 plant species and thousands of butterflies belonging to 45 different species. All life cycle of the butterflies from the caterpillar larva, pupa to adult stage can be observed in the facility, which also features a Butterfly Museum, an Insect Museum and a Nature Education Class. The butterfly house hosts also scientific activities for students on fungi, birds, insects, and upon special request on reptiles and other interesting creatures.]].[2]
The butterfly house is open to public from 9:00 to 17:00 local time, but closed on Mondays. As of early November 2018, the number of visitors exceeded 1.2 million from its openning.[2]