Lviv. A Walk in Khmelnytsky Park - at a Strolling Pace, Nordic Walking, or Running

We go to a park first and foremost to gain, within the city, a chance to be in contact with nature, to break away and rest, to stroll the alleys and soak up the picturesqueness of a green oasis. The Khmelnytsky Park of Culture and Recreation fully meets the townspeople's needs and is one of the best-kept parks in Lviv.

 

Lviv. Khmelnytsky Park

The central entrance is designed as a majestic colonnade, erected when the recreation area opened.

 

At first there were two of them; the second, on the opposite side of the park, was dismantled to free up space for building a military memorial.

 

Lviv. Khmelnytsky Park. The entrance colonnade

Of the ceremonial arch's contemporaries, the sculptural composition "Friendship of Peoples" has survived; it once stood on the facade of the rebuilt "Druzhba" cinema. This relic of the Socialist Realism era is not a single whole statue but is assembled from figures made separately in a workshop - a central male figure, a Chinese woman, and a black comrade.

 

Lviv. The "Friendship of Peoples" sculpture

Many monuments to Bohdan Khmelnytsky have been erected in Ukraine. In Lviv, the commander who besieged the city and fired cannon at it is commemorated by a bust and by the park's name. Researchers interpret the activities and historical legacy of the man who signed the 1654 Pereiaslav Agreement - unfavourable for Ukraine - ambiguously. Evidently, the park, laid out in the early 1950s, was named for the 300th anniversary of that fateful event and in honour of its initiator.

 

Lviv. Khmelnytsky Park. Monument to Bohdan Khmelnytsky

Even back in the 19th century, Lvivians had grown fond of the site chosen for the park, using it for walks and ice-skating.

 

Lviv. Khmelnytsky Park. A stele with a bas-relief

This green island, covering 26 hectares, has the status of a monument of landscape-gardening art.

 

The park's tiers are connected by stairs, and the 800-metre central alley runs gradually from north to south. On the hillside slopes, flower beds are laid out in terraces and installations are set up.

 

Beautiful in any season, the linden, chestnut, maple, and cherry plantings are renewed with young saplings.

 

For sports enthusiasts, tennis courts and a rope park have been created in the forest-park sector. On the eastern side, the "Yunist" Stadium opened in 1968 and is undergoing reconstruction.

Lviv. The "Yunist" Stadium

For festivals, exhibitions, and fairs, a summer stage and a concert venue operate in the park.

 

Lviv. Khmelnytsky Park

The monument of military glory, which the openwork colonnade had given way to, has been undergoing dismantling since 2018 because of its dilapidated condition and the presence of communist symbols. Individual fragments of the memorial have been moved to the "Museum of Terror".

 

Lviv. The dismantled memorial

The park has children's playgrounds, a dog-walking area, and cafes. Although the recreation area lies practically in the city centre and offers entertainment attractions, Khmelnytsky Park is far cosier, calmer, and less crowded with visitors than other green corners of Lviv.

Lviv. Khmelnytsky Park