Overview
The park has an area of 312.1 hectares. However, if we take into account the total area of the park with the protection zone, it is 785.71 hectares. Its territory is divided into different zones: protected, regulated recreation, stationary recreation and economic. An important feature of the park is its landscape value. From the tops of the hills, there are wonderful panoramas of the city, and the mountainous massif of the park together with the High Castle has long been a hallmark of Lviv. One of the most interesting objects of the park is the historical and cultural open-air museum „Shevchenkivsky Gai“. In addition, there is an Information and Education Center on the territory of Znesinnya. It is located on the Oleksa Dovbusha Street 24.
Entrance to the park
You can enter the territory of Znesinnya from several sides: from the center - from Dovbush Street, from Zaklynskykh Street, from the Klymentiy Sheptytsky Museum of Folk Architecture and Life or from Staroznesenska street. At each entrance exists is an information board and a map of the park.
Landscape
Znesinnya Park occupies a large part of the northeastern part of Lviv. The area is quite mountainous, so here you can see the panorama of Lviv (there are mountain peaks called Leo, Baba, Stefan and Khomets). The highest point is 377 meters above sea level. In the park, rare steppe plants like Orchis militaris or Coronilla coronate grow. The streams Hlyboky, Kryvchytsky and Khomets flow across the park, which are tributaries of the river Poltva. A quarry pond one bigger still water in the park.
The Church of the Ascension of the Lord is also part of the extended cultural landscape of Znesinnya.
History. From the village to park
Many historians considered the territory of the park to be the first settlement, and the place where the founder of Lviv, King Danylo Halytsky (1201-1264), laid the first stones of his city. According to historical documents, the territory of the village of Znesinnya was a royal land. This territory was the richest land of the entire Galicia-Volyn principality.
The territory of the village of Znesinnya is also known for the fact that here in October 1648 the Cossacks under the rule of Maxym Kryvonos (1600-1648) stormed the High Castle. Now, walking through the park, the „consequences“ of this assault can be seen: left potholes from the culture in the fireplace fort walls. Later, the village was developed as a cultural center: a school was opened, organizations were established and churches and monasteries were built. In 1914, the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (USR) performed their first demonstration battles here. They died in 1918 when they fought together with the Ukrainian Galician Army (UGA) in the battle against the Polish formation. Even now, the only intact mass grave of the USR-UGA has been preserved in the Znesinsky cemetery. In 1939, the village of Znesinnya received the status of a city, because it was added to the city of Lviv. Znesinnya Park is relatively young: it was founded in 1991 by a public initiative of Lviv.
Why Znesinnya has become „Kaiserwald“
Among the locals preserved another name of the part - Kaiserwald. The name „Kaiserwald“ literally translates from German as „Kaiser's (imperial) forest“. Until the 18th century Kaiserwald was owned by a wealthy Lviv Alembek family. Then the rich Lviv family Longchamps de Bérier bought it. Francois Longchamps de Bérier (1710-1784) who was a banker and the mayor of Lviv, was acquainted to Franz Joseph I (1830-1916), the Emperor of the Austrian Empire and King of Galicia and Volodymyria; the Grand Duke of Bukovyna; from March 15, 1867 - head of a dual state - the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. He ruled for 68 years.
Once he visited Longchamps and inspected the wooded area of Znesinnya, and he liked it very much.
Caesar is coming!
The historical event happened in October 1851. This visit was an inspection tour, during which Franz Joseph I was introduced for the subjects as new emperor. At the time of the visit, 8,000 soldiers arrived in Lviv, who provided a corridor for travel and guaranteed order and security. The emperor was also dressed in a military uniform. The peasants waited for the arrival of Franz Joseph with the greatest enthusiasm - they could personally show their devotion to the monarch.
On October 16, 1851, at 1:45 p.m., the imperial crew, accompanied by a whole convoy, arrived in Lviv. From the castle hill, 101 cannon volleys informed the residents about it. The emperor stayed in Lviv for four days. During this time, he received the keys to the city from the oldest member of the city council, received visitors in his apartments, and visited worship in the Latin Cathedral, inspected military facilities.
On October 19, 1851 at 2:00 p.m., the emperor went to the Castle (Sand) Mountain, which was being prepared for his visit all summer. Festivals (fairs) were organized to entertain the people, and the main event was to rename the Sand Mountain to Kaiserwald.
Kaiserwald as main entertainment place in Lviv
From 1908 to 1914 in Kaiserwald operated the first amusement park in Ukraine with many attractions and summer restaurants. It was called Luna-Park. In the early 1960s the Lviv authorities came up with the idea to turn Kaiserwald into a landscape park. It was planned to create recreation areas, a „singing field“, a museum of folk architecture, a sky jump and a bobsled track.
Health Route
In the summer of 2020 in the park the first and only in Lviv and Western Ukraine five-kilometer „Health Route“ was opened , which consists of five trails. Three paths for cardio, two more - general health. Each trail has signposts, mileage columns, instruction stands and benches for relaxation. All this is necessary so that a person does not get lost, knows what exercises to do next, what distance he has traveled, or what „health path“ to choose.
This system of tracks (terenkuri) is very common in Europe. In short, the main purpose of health care (local treatment) - a reasonable gradual load, which is accompanied by simultaneous psychological relief. All this is made possible by the special terrain of Znesinnya and nature, which is ideal for such routes. The route has already become very popular among park visitors and doctors. Doctors can often be found here, when they conduct preventive talks with visitors.
This project was implemented with the support of the International Charitable Organization „Ecology-Law-Human“ together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and in cooperation with the World Federation of Ukrainian Medical Societies.
Obstacle course on a tree
For fans of more challenging physical activities in the park there is also an obstacle course „LaZanka“. This is a complex of suspended obstacles of different levels of difficulty, located at a height of one to seven meters.
Znesinnya - bottom of the Miocene Sea
Many millions of years ago the current territory of the park was the bottom of a warm sea. The water came down and left behind shells and mollusks. This is especially noticeable on Mount Leo, which is also called Bald or Royal. The upper layer of the mountain soil is covered with shell rock, mollusks - in the life position. In addition, at the foot of Mount Leo, archaeologists have found remnants of the Mesozoic period. It is also one of the favorite observation decks of tourists.
(Yaryna Melianchuk, Lviv Polytechnic National University, 2021; Special thanks to the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe in Lviv)
Internet sources
uma.lvivcenter.org: Amusement park „Luna-Park“ in Kaiserwald (Lviv; 1910)
uma.lvivcenter.org: St. Nicolas church from the village Kryvka in the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life (1938-1939)
uma.lvivcenter.org: Ski jumping hill in Kaiserwald (Lviv; 1930-1939)
uma.lvivcenter.org: Ski jumping hill in Kaiserwald (Lviv; 1930-1939)