Lychakivskyi Park is located in the district of the same name in Lviv. There are several versions of the origin of the name Lychakiv: one name was formed from the word "lychaky" - woven from wood shoes made by locals, another - from the name of the estate of a wealthy German Lutcheng, whose name for the convenience of pronunciation locals changed to "Lytchakov" and later – Lychakiv. It`s also an interesting fact that people here didn`t consider themselves Lviv residents for quite a long time (until the middle of the nineteenth century).
At that time, Lviv was growing rapidly, and with it the area around the current Lychakivska Street. Therefore, in 1894 Lychakivskyi Park was designed. One of the preconditions for its creation was the launch of a tram to the current Trakt Hlynianskyi Street. Later, the track was dismantled and now the tram branch ends at the beginning of Pasichna Street.
The architect of the park was a German, "inspector of urban plantations" Arnold Roering. He designed green areas in Lviv and supervised their condition. The architect's works also include Stryiskyi Park, Zalizna Voda Park, the project of the square of the current Svobody Avenue and a number of others.
The landscape of the park is very hilly. When it was created, several sand and clay quarries had to be backfilled and the terrain leveled. By the way, a unique feature of the park is that in its western part you can find black pine plantations. The air in the pine forest is considered healing, so many Lviv residents came here for this purpose.
There is also a legend about the park - according to Ukrainian historian Ivan Krypyakevych: “On Lychakivska Hill, where the park is now, there was a ruin called “The Devil's Mill.” An industrialist wanted to use the Lychakiv Winds and built a windmill of stone and brick here. But the wind broke all the wings, and the owner soon renounced his mill, leaving the house empty, and the people of Lychakiv saw a devil's house in it”.
In 1905, a monument to the Polish national hero Voitsekh Bartosh Hlovatskyi was built on the territory of the park, which has survived to the present day. By the way, before the Second World War, the official name of Lychakiv Park was not Lychakiv Park, but Hlovatskogo Park.
Opposite the monument is the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the only old Christian basilica in Lviv, one of the largest sacred buildings in the city, which, however, is little known to tourists. The temple also has an interesting history, which you can read about here.
On the opposite side of the park are military burials from the time of both world wars, which are called "Hill of Fame", and are part of the park since the 80's. This place will be interesting to all connoisseurs of Soviet architecture. You can read about another little-known location here.
Immediately behind the military cemetery are the botanical gardens of Lviv University - an interesting location, but available for visits only on open days - in autumn or spring, or by appointment.
If you go up to the park on Tsetnerivka Street, you can see two more interesting locations.
On the left side, you will see the stadium, which is a complex sports base of Lviv State University of Physical Culture “Skif”. This location once belonged to the Polish gymnastic society “Sokil” and is the first stadium in the city. After the reconstruction for Euro 2012, football matches with the participation of Ukrainian football clubs are held here.
Instead, on the right side you will see a house that has become widely popular on the Internet as “plasticine” but has no official name, because it is only a villa of the 30s, which the current owners decided to renovate by ordering reconstruction from Lviv architect Mykola Senyk. The building is located at 16 Tsetnerivka Street.
Today the park is undergoing mass reconstruction - new paths are being created here, old ones are being laid, communications are being replaced, and the infrastructure is being completely changed. There are also plans to build a large modern playground as a replacement for the old Soviet one, which will depict a crawling dragon. In the future, this place may become more popular, both among locals and tourists.
Today, it will be interesting for lovers of silence, fresh air and as an opportunity to relax after contemplation of neighboring locations. And yet - from many places in the park opens a beautiful panorama of the central part of the city, which you will see, which is definitely an advantage - alone)
Address: between Lychakivska street, Pasichna street, and Cheremshyny street
Working hours: day and night
How to get there:
On foot – from Soborna square up to Pekarska street to the end. Then through the memorial "Field of Mars” up to Tsetnerivka street.
By tram – from “Rynok Square” stop by tram 2 to “Pasichna Street. The end of the road” stop The territory of the park begins immediately at the exit of the tram.
Estimated time of picking up from the Rynok Square - 20 minutes by tram, 40 minutes on foot.
