Rakhiv. Burkut Park - Green Wealth with the Status of a Monument of Landscape-Gardening Art

City parks, recreation areas, green oases - these are gifts of nature and man-made landmarks in industrial centres that have accumulated the inconveniences of crowded traffic and engineering structures. One of the most picturesque parks of culture and leisure in Zakarpattia is located in Rakhiv, in the north-western part of the town.

 

Rakhiv. Zakarpattia region. Burkut Park

At the foot of the mountain, from a stone monolith, the Burkut mineral-water spring breaks through to the surface, and it is thanks to this spring that the park got its name.

 

The pleasant-tasting, healing water contains iron-bearing microelements. Burkut, in the Hutsul dialect, means the emergence of carbon-dioxide mineral waters onto the surface, and the spring has the status of a hydrological natural monument. 

Rakhiv. Burkut Park. Spring No. 4

Burkut Park in Rakhiv has historical-cultural, artistic-aesthetic and scientific-educational significance. From history it is known that the emerald massif has been on the lists of monuments of landscape-gardening art since 1969. This nature-reserve fund, with an area of 4.9 hectares, was created for the purpose of preserving stands of European larch and Scots pine.

 

Rakhiv. Burkut Park

The park is an important infrastructure object; festivals, fairs and mass events are held on its grounds, and an amphitheatre serves as a concert venue for popularising Hutsul culture.

 

Rakhiv. Burkut Park. The amphitheatre

The townspeople's green friend is a forest tract with winding, serpentine avenues and paths, along which pedestrians and cyclists head up to the summit.

 

Rakhiv. Burkut Park. The paths

The most prestigious plant of Burkut is considered to be the larch, which reaches a height of 50-60 metres. It is the only conifer that is left without its attire as the temperature drops.

 

Rakhiv. Burkut Park. The green plantings

Neighbouring this beauty are centuries-old beeches, sturdy junipers, evergreen yews and wizard oaks.

 

Rakhiv. Burkut Park

From the mountain slopes wonderful views open onto the district centre of the Zakarpattia region.

 

Rakhiv. Burkut Park. View of the mountains and the town

Almost at the top of the mountain a memorial sign has been erected to the UPA soldiers who died at the hands of NKVD executioners in 1949. The underground fighters were shot without trial or investigation and their bodies were secretly taken away into the mountains.

Rakhiv. The memorial cross to the UPA underground soldiers in Burkut Park

The abandoned trading pavilions with their collapsed roofs do nothing for the picturesque scene, and the rubbish left by holidaymakers on the glades gives no aesthetic pleasure.

 

In summer, kiosks with cool drinks and ice cream would be very fitting.

 

Rakhiv. The closed shop near the entrance to Burkut Park

But on the other hand, it is good that the natural landscapes have not been mutilated by ubiquitous plastic shacks, and that Burkut has not turned into a trivial kebab-and-carousel attraction.

 

Rakhiv. Burkut Park

From time to time the townspeople come out for a communal clean-up so that their beloved park does not come to resemble a dump, but this is not enough. It is important that all the promenades through the park leave no harmful consequences for Burkut, and that the green friend, the green landmark, the green wealth of Rakhiv should bloom and multiply.

 Coordinates of Burkut Park: 48°3'22"N 24°11'43"E