The 4.8-hectare Aga Khan Garden, Alberta — gifted by His Highness the Aga Khan as a symbol of the continued intellectual, educational and cultural collaboration between the University of Alberta and the Aga Khan Development Network — is an extraordinary contemporary interpretation of Islamic landscape architecture in a northern climate.

The Aga Khan Garden features secluded forest paths, granite and limestone terraces, still pools that reflect the prairie sky and a waterfall that tumbles over textured stone. Fruit orchards extend around the large Calla Pond, and the garden contains more than 25,000 trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and wetland plants, selected for fragrance, beauty and the ability to thrive in Alberta’s northern climate.