Glover Gardens in Nagasaki is one of the most popular tourist spots in the City. This is the place that Thomas Glover who was from Scotland, built his house on the Minami Yamate Hill in 1863, where there are many relocated and restored gardens and houses of foreign merchants and traders who contributed to the industry of Japan at the time.
Many foreign merchants and nationalists at the end of Edo Period lived in Nagasaki at the time. The former Glover House is the oldest western wooden architecture in Japan and is designated as a national important cultural property and is also known as the "Madame Butterfly House. At various times throughout the year events are held to celebrate the opera created by Puccini as it is well known that Nagasaki is the backdrop of the story.
Glover Gardeni is a brilliant place where you can lose yourself in the history of Nagasaki, forgetting that you are actually in Japan and could be in any other trading country from Europe to the Americas. See Japan for yourself as it was in the later half of the 19th century and the effect one man made to bring Japan into the modern ages. You will find something here for everybody, whether it be the magnificent old Victorian Houses, to the restored furniture inside to the panoramic 180 degree views of the breathtaking Harbor below and its crystal clear waters.
For those visitors that want to explore Nagasaki by themselves and not take an organized tour this location is a must visit. It takes less than 10 minutes to walk to from the International Port Terminal and has a lot of attractions nearby with plenty of shops and restaurants for a bite to eat and shopping opportunities galore. However it is located on a hill and even though their is a traveling escalator to get to the top there are many steps and a constant incline to contend with.
Check out at Glover Gardens in Nagasaki on a map below:
