The Mardakan Arboretum was established in 1926 by the Soviet botanist Nikolai Vavilov on the grounds of a private garden that had belonged to oil baron Murtuza Mukhtarov. It now covers 24 hectares and functions as a research institute — the Institute of Dendrology — while remaining open to visitors as a park.
The collection runs to around 1,500 plant species, grouped by geographic origin: one section covers Azerbaijani and Caucasian flora, another ornamental specimens from around the world, and a third cultivated fruit and medicinal plants. Two small museums operate within the grounds: one dedicated to Vavilov and one to the poet Sergei Yesenin, who lived here during two extended visits in the 1920s. For non-specialists, the arboretum is simply a pleasant green space in a landscape that is otherwise very flat and dry.