Stryiskyi Park is the largest and best project of Arnold Röhring in Lviv, а park-monument of landscape art of national importance. The park covers an area of more than 50 hectares.
Located on the hills of the Lviv Heights, it has a unique landscape character that combines English and French aesthetic principles, creating a unique atmosphere for visitors. The territory of the park conventionally consists of three parts: lower, upper and children’s sector. There is a pond with swans, a cascade of streams, a water tower, decorative ruins, a light and music fountain, a gardener’s house, an orangery with exotic plants and a functioning children’s railway. In addition, Stryiskyi Park is known for its role in the cultural life of Lviv, often becoming a venue for various events and festivals. Its appeal lies in the unique combination of natural beauty, historical heritage and modern cultural life.
Arnold Röhring, Lviv’s “park inspector” at the time, drew up the plans for Stryiskyi Park, the largest and most impressive of his city landscaping designs.
Work on the territory was begun in 1887.The design of the lower terrace reflects the landscaped pleasure garden approach, while the upper terrace, equipped to host the 1894 regional Expo has a more formal structure. It was founded on the southern outskirts of the old city, and now in the very center the park has an area of more than 50 hectares.
Stryiskyi Park has a long history. The territory of the park did not always look like it does today. For example, part of the lower terrace was once occupied by a cemetery. It was closed at the end of the XIX century, but burials were found during the XX century. There was a stadium on the border of Stryiskyi Park and UCU. The first football match in Ukraine was played here – between Lviv and Krakow. At the end of the 19th century, the Regional Expo (1 150 000 visitors) and the “Eastern Auction” Fairs were held here. An electric tram appeared in Lviv for the exhibition of 1894. There was even a route connecting Stryiskyi Park and the train station.
Stryiskyi Park is laid on hills which are part of the Lviv Heights. Its structural axis runs along a valley formed by Soroka Creek, which was a tributary of the Poltva River. River. It is here that the park’s central lane has been placed with curving paths leading from it up the slopes to the upper park terrace.
The park’s layout serves as testimony to the professionalism of its designer, Lviv parks inspector Arnold Röhring, and his particular genius with landscaping. His ideas for Stryiskyi Park were taken from the landscaped pleasure garden approach already successfully employed in Lviv by Karl Bauer.
The paths and lanes of Stryiskyi Park (excepting the upper terrace) have an informal structure in the manner of the English park. A pond with swans is also an important compositional element. There is also an orangery with exotic plants. Yet it is important to note the lanes’ informal arrangement and the uneven contours of the pond are the result of thoughtful design. In a departure from the half-tone, classic English park, the territory of Stryiskyi Park evidences fluid contrast and rich palette. Stryiskyi Park unites the features of the pleasure garden with those of the woodland park. In a further departure from the English park style of the 18th century, Stryiskyi has a clearly defined outer boundary.
Lawns and picturesque walks run throughout the park; they possess a more formal, “French” structure in those areas of the park where there are/were structures (the 1894 Expo pavilions). The upper terrace is modeled on the baroque-classical park. With terraced flower beds and circles, fountains and structures sitting near the central lane and reflecting a Beaux-Arts sensibility.
Here we are again obliged to point out a difference with the 18th century English park: Stryiskyi Park reflects a naturalistic ecology and configuration though, indeed, one which combines botanical variety in a way never encountered in nature. Its botanical arrangement includes a section of imported flora and – what were in that period – exotic plants. For instance, the park has a Gingko tree, a species now seen only in botanical gardens.
The character of Stryiskyi Park thus evolved as a stylistically eclectic park dating from the era of historicism, yet one that deliberately and fluidly combines various aspects of a historical garden-park aesthetic. The park is comprised of three parts, each with distinctive landscaping and layouts: the lower park, the upper park terrace, and the later-constructed children’s park.
In 2023, Stryiskyi Park became one of the locations of the Lviv Sculpture Week international event. Then the first sculptural route was started on the territory of the park. The exposition of the route is updated every autumn. https://yagallery.com/exhibitions/skulpturnij-marshrut.
(Texts: Lviv.travel, Center for Urban History, Parkylviv).
Address: Parkova st, Lviv, Ukraine, 79000
E-Mail: striyskypark@ukr.net
Website: https://lviv.travel/en/places/parks/striiskii-park-27 or https://parky.lviv.ua/parky-lvova/stryyskyy-park-park-kilinskoho-2/
Owner: «Nature protection recreation institution», Lviv City Council
Opening times: The park is available 24/7 throughout the year.
Admission: free
Events and exhibitions: Running events every Sunday and on holidays. Fairs, festivals, exhibitions throughout the year.
Visitor services:
Shop: no
Tea Room/ Restaurant: yes
WC: on the territory, in restaurants Delis, Kilinski, Suputnyk.
Orangery
Sensoteka (media library) – exhibitions, events – https://www.facebook.com/sensoteca/
Parking: on the streets around and parking near Ukrainian Catholic University.
Seats and benches: yes.
Average visiting duration: 1 hour or more.
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