Sofievka. Arboretum Sofievka (Uman - attractions, what to see, interesting places)

National dendrological park Sofievka is a park, a research institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, located in the northern part of the city of Uman, Cherkasy region of Ukraine, on the banks of the Kamenka River. These days it is a popular holiday destination. About 500 thousand people visit it annually. Sofiyivka is one of the seven winners of the "7 Wonders of Ukraine" competition

Sofievka Park- a masterpiece of landscape art, a dendrological park in the Cherkasy region of Ukraine. The park is rightfully considered a local “wonder of the world”; guests are simply amazed by what they see; there is Lake Geneva, the Champs Elysees, a “piece” of China, and other amazing corners of our planet. And this is still the result of the colossal efforts of the creators of the unique park. The park amazes with its beauty, namely harmonious combination water, stone and lush greenery. It’s not for nothing that it was included in the nomination for 7 wonders of Ukraine. Literally everywhere there are waterfalls and waterfalls, fountains with goldfish, rivers with beautiful bridges across them, lakes with swans, and all this is shrouded in mystery, ancient legends and romance.

Sofiyivka- the largest arboretum in Europe, and it is landscaped, that is, it extends both in width and height. A particularly beautiful sight opens up at the top of the highest waterfall - then the whole park is in front of you at a glance. There is also a boat tour along the underground river in the park. Sofievsky Park is probably the most mystical place in Ukraine. At least it has 4 symbols that, according to legend, will fulfill your wishes or get rid of an illness.

Crown of Vesta. Main entrance of the park Sofiyivka decorated with two stone watchtowers, the crown of which was borrowed from the temple of the ancient Roman goddess of the hearth and fire, Vesta and Tivoli. All brides try to lure their grooms here: Vesta herself will bless you and your companion when you pass under her crown.

Inside the Calypso Grotto, which was formerly called the Leo Grotto or the Potocki Grotto, Count Potocki himself wrote in Polish “Whoever is unhappy, let him come in and become happy, and whoever is happy, let him become even happier.” According to legend, you need to touch the copper inscription, and then walk around the huge stone standing in the middle three times, and then make a wish.

You can also be cured of illness if you visit Venus the Bather. If a person drinks water from a source where radon water flows, and then makes a wish to get rid of the disease, then the disease will definitely leave the body.

And with the help of the “Big Waterfall” Sofiyivka you can try your luck. To fulfill your innermost desire, you need to walk along the passage directly behind its streams, and if not a single drop falls on you, everything you wished for will come true.

But these are not all the wonders of the park.

House of Scientists' Creativity. Sofiyivka

Landscapes of the western part of the park Sofiyivka

Address: Ukraine, Uman
Date of foundation: 1796
Coordinates: 48°45"43.8"N 30°14"04.2"E

The Sofievka dendrological park, founded in 1796 and located in the city of Uman, with an area of ​​about 180 hectares, has gained worldwide fame. About five hundred thousand people visit this park every year.

Flora Pavilion

This park will not leave anyone indifferent, delighting everyone with its amazing grottoes, fountains, waterfalls, underground rivers and beautiful natural landscapes.

History of the creation and existence of the park

Surprisingly, this park was founded by one of the richest people of the 18th century, Count Felix Potocki, and was presented by him to his Greek wife named Sofia in 1802 for her birthday. Thanks to the project of the architect L. Metzel, the park is a visual illustration of individual parts of Homer’s poems “Odyssey” and “Iliad”.

View of the Assembly Square (left), Ionian Sea, Serpent Fountain (center)

The park is a piece of Hellas, the birthplace of Sofia. Many serfs took part in the construction process, thanks to whose labor the grandiose garden and park complex was built in a short period of four years. Thousands of peasants worked at an accelerated pace in winter and autumn, in any weather. They laid out alleys, built waterfalls and fountains, delivered huge blocks of stone to the site, and dug ponds. Sculptors came from different countries, for example, from Italy and France. The park was built in six years.

Snake Fountain

After the death of Count Felix Potocki, the park became the property of his wife Sofia, and was then inherited by their son Alexander. After the Polish uprising in 1832, the estates of A. Potocki, including the park, were confiscated and transferred to the state. During this period, the park was unofficially called “Tsaritsyn Garden” and it was during this period that many new architectural monuments were built. This is both the main entrance gate of the park and Main alley, and the first paved street, called Sadovaya.

Parterre amphitheater

Then, in 1859, the park became the property of the Main School of Horticulture of the city of Uman. The flora of the park is enriched with rare plant species and an English park is being created on the territory of the park. This park is home to various species and forms of trees and shrubs, about a hundred species in total. In 1929 "Sofiyivka" became State Nature Reserve and acquires independent status. During the Great Patriotic War many architectural monuments were destroyed and the park was able to resume its work only in March 1944.

Grotto of Thetis

Today, on the territory of the park there is a center for acclimatization and introduction of plants, there are four scientific departments, as well as a research institute.

Park attractions

On the territory of the park there is the Museum of the History of the Park, from which there is a beautiful view of the granite rocks and the small Lake Geneva, which appeared in the 1930s. At the end of the central alley of Sofievka Park there is the Flora Pavilion with tall columns made in the Doric style, with a bas-relief depicting leaves and bunches of grapes.

Great Falls and Valley of the Giants

From here you can admire the panorama of the Lower Lake. Next to the pavilion there is a source - “Silver Keys”, which is decorated in an antique style, in the shape of a horseshoe and made of granite.

Spring water flows from decorative bronze pipes mounted into a vertical wall. Also nearby, to the right of the Flora Pavilion, there is an arched vault - the Venetian Bridge. The largest and most beautiful fountain in Sofievka is considered to be the Snake fountain, located in the middle of the Lower Lake.

Tantalus Grotto

Here the snake, opening its mouth wide, throws a stream of water to a height of 18 meters. The magnificent fountain is famous for its ingeniously simple design. Water pressure provides a height difference between the Lower and Upper ponds, and thus pumps are not used. Another fountain in the park is the Semistrui fountain, built during the initial period of construction of the park. The fountain is a round pool, in the middle of which there is an openwork bronze vase. From the central part of the vase powerful jets of water shoot upward, reaching a height of five meters.

Pheasant Pavilion

The park also contains Scylla's grotto, made of pink granite, to the right of which is the Belvedere platform, where the statue of Apollo Belvedere was once located. Another part of the park is represented by the Champs Elysees. At the entrance there is a granite boulder, and next to it is a tetrahedral granite column. In a green meadow there is a large granite vase, and then there is a section of stones that differ in size - the Cretan labyrinth. The upper lake of the park is famous for its island, on which a pavilion with exotic plants stands out.

Pink Pavilion

This is the Island of Love, lined with granite. There used to be a ferry or boat service to the island, and then in 1853 a wooden bridge for pedestrians was built on stone piers. On the shore of Lake Superior there is the Amsterdam Lock, installed during the initial period of construction of the park and intended for the passage of boats from Lake Superior to the underground river called Acheron and back. The Acheron River has a length of 211 m underground, and its total length is more than 223 m, the depth of the river reaches one meter.

Chinese gazebo

In the northern part of Sofievka there is the English Park, presented in the shape of a triangle. Grows in the park greatest number exotic trees and shrubs that are of high value and of interest to lovers of ornamental crops. Famous park“Sofievka” is truly a world masterpiece of landscape art. This is a park consisting of several parks, admiring the compositions of water, land, architectural structures and sculptures, the basis of which are scenes from Ancient Greece.

We haven't had such a beautiful autumn for a long time.Multi-colored trees, yellow fallen leaves on the not yet faded, bright green grass, the last warm days - a fairy tale. Everything around is so bright and unnatural that it’s as if it’s been painted. Where is the most beautiful place in Ukraine at this time? That's right, in Uman. So it’s time for us to hit the road) Waiting for usSofiyivka is the largest and most beautiful park in the country. Under the cut there are almost half a hundred photographs, some text and a story about how tourists are scammed. At the end of autumn, let's remember how charming she was this year.

I have been to Sofievsky Park many times, but in Lately exclusively in winter. In January there is a lot of snow here and almost no people - quiet, cozy and beautiful. Here you can take a look. The main rule for visiting Sofiyivka in high season is to never go on a day off. We, of course, forgot about it and came back on Sunday. In the most popular places there is no crowd. But mWe will still try to avoid the crowds and find cozy, deserted corners in the crowded park.

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Sofiyivka - 218. Briefly: once upon a time there lived a certain Stanislav Pototsky - a Polish tycoon, military leader and prominent official. He decided to somehow please his wife and for her birthday he built a park in the very center of Ukraine - with fountains, waterfalls and sculptures. This is such a modest name day gift. He named the park, naturally, in honor of his wife. By the way, she did not appreciate her husband’s emotional impulse and soon cheated on him with his own son. o_O But that’s not what our story is about)

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Almost all modern sculptures and objects appeared later. After the Polish uprisings, all of Potocki's property was confiscated in favor of Russian Empire. Tsar Nicholas I gave the park to his wife and renamed Sofievka Tsaritsyn Garden. Soon a gardening school was located here. It is surprising that this idea came to mind during the empire. Usually the Bolsheviks were famous for this. Now there is a university here. The building on top is a greenhouse. The lawn in front of them is proudly called the Parterre Amphitheater.

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The stupid “Don’t walk on the lawn” rule doesn’t apply here. You can walk, sit, lie down - that’s what everyone does. In summer, the flower beds are even more colorful and beautiful.

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Very sincere. It immediately reminds me of some French motifs.

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One of the classic views of Sofiyivka is a large pond (here it is called the Ionian Sea) and a snake fountain. The wind carries the spray and a rainbow appears. Cute.

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There are just a lot of people at the pond. But the gondolier is bored - there are no clients. Much in great demand enjoys a boat ride on the underground river. More about her later.

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Everyone considers it their duty to feed the swans. Usually no one has anything edible with them, so they tear up the grass and throw it into the pond. Swans almost never eat it. As a result, the water is dirty, the lawn near the shore is bare. By the way, there are a lot of swans - both in the pond and near the waterfall.
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There is pandemonium in the area of ​​the waterfall. If I didn’t take a photo here, I guess I haven’t been to Sofiyivka))

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In winter the waterfall is completelyand looks more powerful. And now - just a small stream.

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Above the waterfall there is a through grotto. Passed - make a wish.

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Living sculptures in Sofievka are unique. They only stand still when people want to take pictures with them. The rest of the time they move as if nothing had happened. They should at least be told what the point is.

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But ordinary stone sculptures are very beautiful. They themselves are in poor condition. For some, you can guess how old they are by their layers of paint; for others, there are simply not enough details. An archer, for example, stands without a bow.

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But the fabulous autumn background changes everything and makes them very attractive.

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Paths, alleys.

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Whatever you say, rough paving stones look very good. It may be uncomfortable to walk on in heels, but it looks great.

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Another classic view of Sofiyivka. Island of lovers.

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We take a step to the side - and the view is no longer classic)

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Every object in Sofiyivka - be it a sculpture, a gazebo or even a lawn - is named after something mythical. It seems like these are illustrations for Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Here, by the way, is the author himself.

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His colleague in the writing workshop is Euripides.

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Cupid mending a bow. It's time to really fix it.
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There is a lot of water in the park. Ponds, rivulets, fountains, cascades.

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Underground river Styx. There is a lot of work for the ferryman. The underground boat ride is one of the most popular attractions in the park.

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Reflection. As if oil paints painted on canvas.

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Chinese gazebo. I’ve been to Sofievka so many times, but I only got to it for the first time now.

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Nearby is a tree on which everyone ties knots for good luck. Since most people don’t have anything like that with them, they knit cellophane bags. Ugh.

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About the unpleasant. There are women wandering around the park begging people for entrance tickets. Like, you don’t need them anymore. Then they hand them over to the administration and have some percentage from the leftist. The most interesting thing is that many people give. And it turns out that according to the documents, the park is visited by many less people than in real life. A ticket is 25 hryvnia (about $3), millions go into someone’s pocket over the course of a season. Bitches. Some women offer to exchange the ticket for a magnet. There are more attacks on such a ball. Here is one of them at work - the country should know its heroes.

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The most interesting thing is that people don’t even think that their financial interest directly depends on this. It's the same as not taking a ticket on a tram. The chain is simple: according to documents, there are few visitors - a lot of money is spent on maintaining the park - prices need to be raised. And then those who gave the tickets will be indignant - they say, how can it be that everything is becoming more expensive... Remarks like “The aunts have a small salary, let them work hard” are not accepted. The anger is released, you can continue to enjoy nature)

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Orange leaves on bright green grass. After all, autumn this year is fabulously beautiful - when else will you see something like this.

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Golden foliage, blue sky. Beauty.

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It's getting dark. The sun breaks through the branches of trees from which the leaves have not yet completely fallen off.

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We were in Uman a month ago, at the end of October. By the way, the season officially ended this weekend. Now all the fountains will be turned off, the statues will be packed in protective casings, almost all tents with souvenirs will be removed , the street performers will disperse. When the snow falls, it will be incredibly quiet and cozy here. I sincerely recommend it. But you can look at Uman itself in winter. For some reason, tourists neglect the town itself and limit themselves only to visiting the park.

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Sofievka Park is an ideal place for a trip with your loved one. The history of the creation of the park is not only the skill of the architect and the efforts of the fortress builders. This is, first of all, the love story of its founder - the Polish Count Stanislav Potocki and his wife - the beautiful Greek Sofia Witte-Potocka. It was love and the desire to give a beloved woman a corner of her homeland, for which she greatly missed, that created this beautiful park with its indescribable atmosphere imbued with romance, love, peace, tranquility and harmony.

The “oligarch” in love, Pototsky, was looking for an idyll in his relationship with his young wife, and this dream was embodied in the park that he built for her. This idyll was “bought at a high price,” as contemporaries wrote. The toy cost 8 million zlotys, despite the fact that for 1 zloty you could buy 1 hectare of land. The idyll was achieved through pastoral simplicity, the absence of strict symmetry, creating the impression that the park was part of nature itself.

“Sofievka” was created on an area with a clearly defined relief: steep and gentle slopes, different in shape and size; boulders of pink granite that come to the surface; the winding bed of the small stormy river Kamenka. Such natural conditions were taken as the basis for the compositional design of the park, and then transformed by the skill and imagination of the military architect-artilleryman Metzel and the efforts of the serfs. At least 800 serfs worked on construction every day, and in the summer, at the height of work, several thousand. A lot of effort was invested in the construction of artificial grottoes, waterfalls, and stone labyrinths. Huge blocks of granite were dug out of the ground and dragged from place to place over considerable distances. Slopes were trimmed, areas of future clearings were leveled, tunnels and canals were dug. To collect the necessary water supply along Kamenka, 4 artificial lakes and 2 dams were created.

Caucasian Hill

An arboretum with an amazing variety of plant species and beauty was created. Most often, over-aged plants were brought from afar with big clods earth on the roots - “with a chair.” It’s hard to imagine now, but all this was done on carts and carts. Contemporaries were amazed by the huge greenhouses with sections of camellia, lemon and orange trees.
Incredibly, the construction of the huge park was completed in 4 years (from 1796 to 1800).

A dazzling white stream fountain "Snake" can be seen from the main alley through the colonnade of the Flora Pavilion. A bronze snake is curled up on a large stone protruding from the water of the Lower Lake. The water in the fountain is supplied from the Upper Lake and is supplied by gravity through an underground water supply system due to the difference in water levels of the lakes. As a result, the water column reaches 20m.

Venetian bridge

In 1980, the park was severely damaged by flood and mudflow. Many trees, sculptures and buildings were seriously damaged. The heaviest bronze statue of the “Snake” was thrown several hundred meters. However, four months after natural disaster Most of the destruction was restored and restored to its original form.

The pavilion in moonlit night, when his reflection turns white in the water and it seems that he is floating somewhere into the distance among the blue fog.

View from Belvedere

Lefkad Rock
According to ancient Greek legends, one criminal was thrown into the sea every year from the Lefkada rock. It hangs so steeply that it seems about to collapse.

Profile of Count Potocki
It was not created by nature and this similarity is not accidental. The organizers deliberately gave the cliff a resemblance to the count’s profile in order to immortalize it for posterity.
Apparently the late count was not a handsome man :-)

Death Stone

There are several versions of the legend of the Death Stone. One of them says that when exhausted, exhausted serfs dragged a huge rock from somewhere hundreds of miles away, the count asked his beauty where she wanted to see this block. Sophia ordered it to be installed at the very top of the rocks. And when the block was finally lifted to the very top, it broke off and crashed into the water with a roar, crushing people in its path. “God himself ordered this stone to take its place,” said the count. And the people called it the Stone of Death. This legend perfectly confirms the words that the idyll of the park was “bought at a high price.”

Assembly Square

Terrace of the Muses- in ancient times Greek mythology patroness of science and art.

Pool "Fish" and a view of the Big Waterfall

Assembly Square

View of the Screw Hill

Big waterfall

Water comes to it from the Upper Lake. Everything except the lower natural rock is a skillful hydraulic structure. A passage-corridor has been created under the upper part of the waterfall, connecting the alleys running along the edge of the rock. The large waterfall attracts with its noise and roar, overflowing water jets. When falling from a height of 14 m, the water breaks into tiny splashes, shimmering in the rays of the sun, presenting a stunning spectacle.
This year, in anticipation of a hot summer, the park administration decided to save water and closed the supply sluices. Because of this, the park has lost a lot in beauty and impact on its guests. It should be noted that the city of Uman itself, in which the park is located, suffers from a lack of water, supplied to most areas for 3 hours in the morning and evening.

Iron bridge

Paris statue And Mercury statue

Euripides statue And View of the Loketek grotto"and the statue of Cupid
The Loketek Grotto is named after the Polish king Wladyslaw Loketek. Carved into a rock exposed to the surface of the earth.

Cupid statue

Grotto "Oreshek"
A huge granite boulder has been expertly heaped and balanced on a small pebble (at the bottom right of the frame) that appears unstable and ready to collapse.

White bridge

Truncated column or Column of Sorrow

Tempey Valley

Dead Lake

The River Styx flows into the Dead Lake through a stone tunnel. In Greek mythology, Styx, the daughter of the Ocean and the sea goddess Tethys, is one of the rivers Underworld(Aida). According to myths, along the River Styx, the ferryman Charon transported the souls of the dead to Kingdom of the Dead, the personification of which is the Dead Lake.
From Dead Lake you can take a boat ride through a 220m long underground river tunnel. Coolness and darkness reign in it, and only in a few places weak rays of light come from hatches-wells that go to the surface. The tunnel vaults are lined with brick and granite and are never covered with mold or moisture. From the mysterious darkness of the underground river, those sailing in a boat find themselves in the vastness of Lake Superior. In order for the boat to get into Lake Superior, it had to be raised to a height of more than 3 m using a special lock called the Amsterdam Lock.

Canal to the Big Falls
When the floodgates are open, the water torrent rushes along the stone steps to the waterfall and falls into the Lower Lake.

When you first visit Sofiyivka, you should walk through it with a guide and listen to his story, since the entire park is built on ancient Greek mythology and this will help you understand it better. But then you definitely need to walk along it on your own, listen to the voices of birds and the sounds of water, breathe in the whole gamut of aromas, wander along secret paths away from the excursion routes. And it’s better to do this not in high heels, but in comfortable shoes, otherwise you may not be able to conquer such stairs.

Stone at the crossroads. “You’ll go left…” :-)

Grotto of Venus

The Grotto of Venus, created in the form of an ancient temple, fits surprisingly well into surrounding landscape. The artificiality of its construction is revealed only by its extremely clear and correct architectural forms. The water flowing to the grotto from Lake Superior shimmers against the background of a multi-colored mosaic. You can enter the grotto through a dark corridor in the dam.

View from the Grotto of Venus

Lion's Grotto

The grotto is carved into a huge rock that comes out to the surface of the earth. The desire to get closer to nature is so skillfully embodied here that it is difficult to distinguish where art ends and nature begins. The entrance to the grotto is divided by a massive granite pillar of irregular shape.

The grotto is supplied with water from Lake Superior, which hits the wall at the bottom of the grotto under pressure and creates the effect of thunder or a lion's roar.

According to popular legend, you need to walk around a granite pillar three times, repeating your wish to yourself, and it will definitely come true.

Life always wins!

Family Tree

Four trunks of one tree artificially spliced ​​together symbolize Count Potocki and his three sons. The fifth trunk, laid aside - his eldest son, who inflicted the greatest pain and insult on his father - the old count found his son in the arms of his young wife.

Cretan labyrinth on the Champs Elysees

The Champs Elysees immediately makes you think of France and Paris. Although initially the Champs Elysees - the “island of bliss” - in Greek mythology embodies the idea of ​​​​paradise. In Homer's Odyssey, the Champs Elysees is a country located on the western edge of the earth, on the banks of the Oceania River, where eternal spring reigns.

I wonder if I’m the only one who sees a seal in this stone?... :-)

Island of love on Lake Superior

Upper Lake– the largest and most beautiful lake in the park. Above it, already outside the park, is the so-called Third Lake, almost equal in size to it. It is fenced off by a dam and its role is to collect water for the operation of the entire hydraulic system of the park.

In the widest part of Lake Superior there is an artificial oval-shaped island. Coastline The lake is lined with granite.

When you look at the island, you get the feeling that it is floating between sky and water.

The island is connected to the shore by a wooden bridge on stone supports, which is already 150 years old. Before its construction, the only way to get to the island was by ferry; it still exists and operates to this day.

"Pink Pavilion" or "Temple of Venus" on Love Island

Grounds Amphitheater

Previously, from the greenhouses down to the Semistruika fountain there was a wide, long granite staircase, framed on both sides by thickets of Cossack juniper and pyramidal thujas. Today the so-called “ historical view" But is this for the better...

Rocks and architectural structures, views and perspectives of different plans were created (Main Alley, English Park, Champs Elysees and others).

When Ludwig Metzel completed the construction, the entrance to the park was from the greenhouses (that is, from the courtyard of the Agricultural Academy). Then we came to Sofievka on horseback along the current streets of Tyshchik and Kievskaya.

The Polish writer Stanislaw Trembecki dedicated the poem “Zofiówka” to the park in 1806, which was later translated into several other languages.

Tsaritsyn garden

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the founding of the park in 1996, the work of the Iron Rura spring was resumed and its historical name was returned. The water of this source comes from the Diana grotto. At the entrance to the park from the street. Sadovaya, on the left, immediately behind the entrance tower there is a hill lined with junipers, thujas and spruce trees. In this hill there is a pool from which water flows to the “Iron River” and a waterfall with a small saucer of water, built according to the design of the architects of the UkrNIIInzhproekt Institute V. B. Kharchenko and O. P. Gumenny. In the same year, the National Bank of Ukraine issued a commemorative coin with a face value of 2 hryvnia, dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the founding of the park.

South part

Main entrance

The park starts from the main entrance on Sadovaya Street. Behind it is the central alley. The towers of the main entrance, built in 1852, have survived to this day, along with the entrance gate. The fence from the towers has changed many times over the course of a century and a half - from wooden on clay columns, then metal on granite columns, to the form it has today, along with a reconstructed bridge, steps and a complex for serving tourists, which today has the status of the House of Scientists' Creativity National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. This house has original architecture, and at the top of the building there is an observation deck. In addition to the museum, the House of Scientists' Creativity has a hotel for 45 people, a restaurant, and a sauna.

Central Alley

Before the natural disaster that occurred on the night of April 4, 1980, the main entrance was decorated with balsam fir trees. They died, and in their place two columnar thujas, 20 years old, were planted, which fit well into the architectural ensemble.

House of Scientists' Creativity

Tarpeian Rock

Flora Pavilion

On the right, near the entrance to the park, behind the thuja wall, there was a building for the Museum of the History of the Park. It was opened in September 1985. The museum, created on a voluntary basis thanks to the enthusiasm of the park workers and its fans, was not designed for mass visits. It was a methodological center for training guides. It also contained materials on the history of Sofiyivka. The building in which the museum was located was built in 1957, until 1980 it was used as an administrative and laboratory building, and in 1996 its funds were moved to the modern administrative building located on the territory of the park. Now, from the site where the museum was located, there is a view of the granite cliffs and the small Lake Geneva, which appeared in the 1930s.

On the territory of the clearing, which is located above Lake Geneva, in 1841 a wooden gazebo was built for a guard soldier. It resembled a fungus in its shape, which is why the area of ​​the slope on the right as you go into the park was called “Mushroom”. The gazebo was restored in 1994.

Along the central alley of the park, on the way from the Main Entrance to the Tarpeian Rock, a group of spruce trees grows on the right, as well as a swamp cypress (two-row Taxodium). These trees were planted in 1891. Previously, this section of the park was called Little Switzerland. From historical archival materials it is known that this section of the park acquired its completed appearance during the period of military settlements, after the completion of the construction of the entrance towers.

The alley ends with the Flora Pavilion. In front of it there is a planned square, from which, going around the pavilion, several roads diverge. An asphalt road across the Venetian bridge leads to Lake Verkhneye and to the exit to the territory of the Uman Agricultural Academy (formerly the Main School of Horticulture), along the greenhouses to the viewing platform near the obelisk. From there, along the Upper Alley you can exit to the Bellevue terrace and return to the square to the Flora Pavilion. Along this road, near the central part of the park, you can stroll in a carriage.

Another road from the Flora pavilion rises steeply to the left and up, leading to the entrance area to the park from Kievskaya Street, to the administrative and economic zone of the park, to the Dubinka clearing and further to the western part, where modern views of the park have been created.

The lower alley runs along the shore of the Lower Lake.

Up close, the Flora Pavilion looks exquisite, thanks to its precise architectural forms, tall columns in the Doric style, and a bas-relief on the frieze that depicts leaves and bunches of grapes. The ornament was made in 1852 according to the drawings of academician of architecture A. I. Stackenschneider. Granite steps lead to a spacious oval hall. In the gaps of the white columns a panorama of the Lower Lake opens.

central part

Venice Bridge

The compositional design of the central part of the park is based on scenes from the mythology of Ancient Greece and Rome, and some places resemble a home greek gods, heroes, writers and philosophers.

To the right of the Flora pavilion is the so-called Venetian Bridge, made of granite wedge-shaped arched stones. The bridge is decorated with granite pylons, between which hang heavy forged chains. A little below the bridge there is a wooden sluice for passing water into the bed of the Kamenka River.

In the middle of the Lower Lake, from the wide-open mouth of a snake writhing on a stone, a column of water shoots out - the “Snake” fountain. Water enters the fountain through an underground water supply line made of granite hewn stone along the road that leads from the academy and greenhouse to the Flora Pavilion.

Opposite the Thunder Grotto (Calypso's Grotto), there is a settling tank and a branch conduit to supply water to the interior of the grotto. The settled and thus purified water is fed into the fountain through cast iron pipes laid at a slight slope, by gravity, which leads to a minimum loss of pressure force due to friction of water against the walls of the pipeline.

Fountain "Snake"

The diameter of the “Snake” fountain head is reduced by 10 times compared to the water pipe. The water supply is precisely calculated and a simple engineering solution for its eruption from the fountain ensures a small difference in height between the fountain column and the level of Lake Superior of only 1.5 - 2.5 meters and, thus, the height of the fountain reaches 12 - 16 meters. At first, the water of the fountain flowed high simply from a hole in the stone and the fountain was called “Samson”, like the famous fountain in Peterhof. Later, during military settlements, a sculpture of a snake was installed on the stone. The snake was cast from bronze by an unknown craftsman. If its knot is stretched in length, it will measure 10.65.

In the center on the Lower Alley is a statue of Hermes (for the Romans - Mercury). This statue has been in the park since 1800, it was installed, like other statues, in different places in the park and was restored several times.

At the end of the Lower Alley there is, on a high granite pedestal, a two-meter statue of the ancient Greek poet-playwright Euripides. He is depicted in full height with a scroll in right hand and a bundle of manuscripts at his feet. The sculpture of Euripides is the only one on the wall in the park, which has not been moved to another place since its installation in 1800. In 1996, all the original marble sculptures were transferred to the museum, and in their place, copies made of plaster and plexiglass were installed.

Bridge to Gathering Square

View of the Lower Lake

Grotto of fear and doubt

Scylla's Grotto

Further, near the foot of the steep slope, there is the source of Hippocrene (Hippocrene). According to Greek mythology, the source of Hippocrene appeared from the blow of the hoof of the winged horse Pegasus (hence the “horse source”) on the Mount of the Muses Helikon in Boeotia. The source is dedicated to Apollo and the Muses.

In 1851, a statue of Venus bathing, which previously stood in the grotto of Apollo, was installed on a square pedestal near the source. Now in this place there is a copy in plexiglass, made in 1952. Below the statue, spring water flows from a granite pedestal, which has the same temperature at any time of the year. Water fills a bronze half-bowl, decorated with a decorative image of snakes, and, overflowing over its edges, flows down a granite underground channel into the Lower Lake.

A metal bridge leads across the lower lake to the Gathering Square, from which you can see the Big Waterfall. Water comes here through the underground river Acheron from Lake Superior. The waterfall was built during the first period of the park's creation.

The gathering square is decorated with various architectural elements of the park composition. This name appeared during the period when “Sofievka” was under the jurisdiction of the military settlements department. At that time, a military band played in the park on Sundays and noble people of the city gathered here to listen to music and dance. But the square was created during the first period of park construction.

The gathering area is framed by wooden benches. It is located on an oval-shaped peninsula. In the center of the square there is a pool, in the middle of which there is a large granite vase. Decorative fish swim in the pool. Water enters the pool through an underground cast-iron pipe from the Upper Lake and is kept at the same level because the water level is discharged into the Lower Lake through an underground granite channel. In summer, the vase is decorated with bright flowers. There is a statue of Paris near the pool.

To the left of the square there is a grotto. A large granite block weighing more than 300 tons hung without support and is supported only by three points. The reliability of this structure was tested by nature itself. In 1986, when a significant earthquake occurred in Uman, the grotto remained undamaged. The grotto is called the Grotto of Fear and Doubt (an earlier name was the Grotto of Tantalus).

Above the Grotto of Fear and Doubt, near the Big Waterfall, there is a small pedestal. Once upon a time there stood a statue of Cupid made of white marble. From the original, only Cupid's wings have survived. In 1996, according to photographs, it was cast by Kyiv sculptor I.D. Didur from organic materials and installed in its place. The statue depicts a boy who has scattered all his arrows, the string that connected the ends of the bow is torn. Cupid leaned back and broke his bow.

Above the Collection Square there are granite steps going up along a large granite block. Nearby on the left is the Western Grotto (Scylla's Grotto). The grotto is made of pink granite and contains granite benches and a table.

Further, on the right, there is a platform carved into the rock along the edge of a steep cliff. The site is called Belvedere because a statue of Apollo Belvedere stood on it for some time. During the period of military settlements, in 1847, the site was surrounded by an openwork metal fence, which has survived to this day. Before entering the site there is a view of the lower part of the rock, which resembles a profile human face. According to some stories, this is the profile of Ludwig Metzel, according to others - Stanislav Potocki. The observation deck on the Belvedere is decorated with a marble antique statue Orphea.

Just above the Belvedere Rock, the adjacent area is called the Caucasus Mountain. On the Caucasus Hill, a white marble statue of the leader of the Polish uprising of 1794, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, was erected. In 1847, by order of Nicholas I, who then visited Uman and Sofiyivka, the statue of Kosciuszko, together with the statue of Napoleonic general J. Poniatowski, which was also installed by O. Potocki on the Champs-Elysees, was sent to Gomel. Instead, the tsar promised to send a statue of his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, in whose honor “Sofievka” began to be called “Tsaritsyn’s Garden”. And in 1850, this statue, depicting the queen in bronze sitting in a chair, was installed here. During the Soviet period, the statue of the queen was a highly artistic work of the famous Russian sculptor V. A. Sherwood, sent to the Hermitage. In 1939, a monument to V.I. Lenin was erected here. In 1941 it was destroyed by the Germans. In 1964, a marble bust of T. G. Shevchenko was installed on the Caucasus Hill on the same pedestal on which the statue of the queen stood. The newspaper “Umanskaya Zarya” dated May 29, 1964 published an image of the monument. The size of the pedestal did not match the bust, and in 1965 a new granite pedestal was made, but the bust of T. G. Shevchenko was never installed; it was transferred to the village of Rodnikovka in 1985, where it still stands today.

East End

Truncated column

To the east of the Amur statue, on the left side there are granite steps that lead to the Loketek and Oreshek grottoes. They were created during the first period of park construction.

Grotto Oreshek is located with right side. It completes the composition of the Valley of the Giants. In the Oreshek grotto, granite lava is carved out, and next to it there is a three-stage waterfall.

To the left and below is the Loketek Grotto - a massive natural rock. A bench was knocked out in it and installed round table. He is mentioned in everyone known descriptions"Sofievka". The grotto was made in honor of King Władysław of Poland.

Further along the alley there is a bridge over the bed of the Kamenka River, which leads to the Tempei Valley. In this place, Ludwig Metzel tried to create a prototype of the Greek Tempeian Valley. There were 9 birches growing here, which allegorically depicted the nine sons of Potocki. Two of them (Kostantin and Nikolai) died in early age, as well as Pototsky’s daughter Helena. As a memory of them early death in the valley there is a granite obelisk, which has the name “Truncated Column” (Broken or Broken Column). Near the base of the obelisk there is a gravestone of granite, which resembles a sleeping lion, and next to it flows the stream of the Kamenka River, divided into three separate small waterfalls. They are called “Three Tears” and allegorically express the mother’s sadness for her three dead children.

"Nature and Art"

Calypso Grotto

Pheasant

Pink Pavilion

The next part of the park is called the Champs Elysees. A granite boulder lies near the entrance to the Champs Elysees natural shape, and next to it is a hewn tetrahedral polished granite column. These two stones accidentally ended up next to each other in Sofievka and over time began to be called the composition “Nature and Art”.

Deep into the Champs Elysees, on the left side in a green meadow, there is a granite vase on a granite pedestal. On the right side of the meadow with a vase there is an area of ​​stones of different sizes. The stones are covered with moss, lonely trees and bushes grow between them and paths go without a specific direction. At the beginning of the construction of the park, this area was called the Cretan Labyrinth. On the right are three separately grown white poplar trees that have already died. They are called the "family tree".

To the east of the Champs-Elysees is the largest grotto carved into natural rock. It is called Lion's or Thunder ( original title- Calypso grotto). Not far from the entrance, on the right wall, two lines in Polish remained carved into the wall, which belong to Stanislav Potocki: “Forget the memory of misfortune here and accept happiness above, if you are happy, then be even happier.”

Further along the alley is the grotto of Thetis (Venus). The grotto has a vestibule consisting of four columns. They support a granite slab and a semicircular window. The middle of the grotto is decorated with a sculpture of the Venus of Medicea, restored last time in 1952.

To the left of Thetis's grotto there is a round pavilion called the Pheasant. This pavilion is built of round oak columns, inlaid with oak, ash and maple bark. It was installed in the park in 1812. During the flood in 1980, the Pheasant Garden was also destroyed, and its roof was carried over the rocks by the flow of water. Cretan labyrinth, where it was dismantled and taken out in parts. In addition to the updated roof, the pavilion was made of new parts according to the drawings of the Ukrproektrestavratsiya Institute. Inside the pavilion there is a small pool with a fountain in the center. Water for it is supplied through a pipe from Lake Superior, the height of the water jet reaches 3-3.5 m.

In the very northeastern part of the park is Lake Superior. There is an island on it, on which a pavilion stands out, planted with exotic plants. This is the Island of Love (previously called the island of Anti-Circe). Anti-Circe Island was created during the first period of construction of the park in the expanded part of Lake Superior, or the Enchanting Sea. The serfs built the island by hand and gave it an oval shape so as not to block the distant vistas of the lake.

The shores of the island of Anti-Circe, like the lakes, are lined with granite. Communication with the island was first carried out by ferry or boat, and in 1853 a wooden bridge for pedestrians was built between the northern shore and the island on stone supports.

On the slope, west of the Lower Lake, there is a natural oak grove called Dubinka. This place was once oak forest, but only one of him has survived an old oak, in a clearing near the Chinese gazebo. All other trees, which create the picture of a dense natural wild forest, were planted later and are less than 200 years old. Some of them were planted during the first period of construction of the park, some - later, and even more are self-seeding trees, which were not cut down for a long time, and only during -2002, hornbeams, maples, ash trees and other self-seeding trees and bushes were cut out, uprooted and after planning the lawn is sown. In the 1960s, exotic trees were also planted behind Dubinka. Previously, there was a Greek forest here, known since the Turkish invasion in 1674. Obviously, Grekova Balka, which runs through the entire park along its southern edge, got its name from the forest. The last remnants of the Grekov Forest, which still remained at the top of the Grekovaya Balka, were cut down and sold at the beginning of the 20th century to replenish the city treasury.

A memorial stone was installed next to the gazebo in 1975 in memory of the revolutionary events that took place here. The clearing served as the venue for the first city rallies, demonstrations, and gatherings. Here, in 1904, the first May Day took place, and in 1919, workers celebrated the First of May.

Northern part

Scheme of the English Park

The English Park, or Arboretum named after V.V. Pashkevich, is located in the northern part of the park. It occupies a small triangle-shaped area of ​​about 2 hectares. Its top is adjacent to the gates of the Uman Agricultural Academy. One side of the triangle is limited by a wide asphalt highway lined with hundred-year-old linden trees. The other side borders the ground amphitheater, and on the base line there is a clearing with a bust of Socrates. The territory of the arboretum is densely cut by a rather complex labyrinth of paths. There is a pool that once housed a collection of aquatic plants, as well as a rocky slide once covered with succulent plants - perennial plants whose vegetative organs are able to accumulate moisture, thanks to which they can grow in deserts, on rocks and in sand.

In areas of the arboretum, the largest number of exotic tree and bush plants grow, valuable both in decorative and forestry terms; their number in 1987 was more than 100 species and forms.

Parterre amphitheater

Greenhouse

Along with the English Park in the west there is the Parterre Amphitheater and Orangery. In front of the greenhouses, a section of the park was created in three levels in a regular style. The upper part consists of trimmed lawns of regular shape, the edges of which are decorated with various varieties of polyanthus roses. The middle part of the Parterre Amphitheater is made of a granite wall and a wide horseshoe-shaped alley, which smoothly bends around the gentle part of the slope with rich herbaceous vegetation, which descends to the pool with the Semistruy fountain. The granite retaining wall, erected in 1845, is decorated with curls of roses, wild grapes, honeysuckle, and roses also grow near the edge of the slope, as in the upper part of the amphitheater.

The ground amphitheater has undergone many changes. During the time of the Pototskys, there was a main entrance to the park here. Then the name of this area arose - the Valley of Roses. Before the Great Patriotic War, the rectilinear two-row alley of thujas consisted of only one row of thujas planted in 1910. It imperceptibly limited the regular part of the park; it was trimmed at a height of no more than 1 m. During the war, there was no necessary supervision of the park; thujas were not trimmed after the war. In the 1950s, another row was planted, the top one being western thuja. Since the capacity of the serpentine narrow paths between the rows of roses did not provide free passage for visitors, the number of which was increasing, the site was redeveloped in 1957. Granite steps were built in the center of the slope, which led to the Semistrui fountain, and on the ridges where roses once grew, they planted different types and forms of juniper and thuja, and the edges were lined with tamarisk. Almost all the steps in the park were originally wooden, but over time they collapsed and constantly required repairs, so in the 1960s they were replaced with granite ones.

Obelisk "Eagle"

When the park was restored in 1996, a radical reconstruction also affected the Parterre Amphitheater. The map of Sofievka for 1855 is taken as a basis, on which this section of the park is clearly visible. Therefore, having dismantled the granite steps, they resumed the serpentine path, and forty-year-old ordinary and columnar thujas, junipers, mulberries and other valuable plants were transplanted into the newly created landscapes of the Western part of the park.

The Semistrui Fountain was built during the first period of construction of the park. The fountain is a small round pool with an openwork bronze vase in the middle. Seven powerful jets of water shoot upward from the center of the vase. Water is supplied to the fountain by an underground gravity pipeline from Lake Acherontia. Due to the difference in terrain, the height of the central jet of the fountain reaches 5 m. Excess water is discharged through underground drains into the Lower Lake.

Behind the fountain there is a statue of “Winter”. The statue depicts an old man, his face expresses pain, suffering, he is trying to cover himself with a tunic to protect himself from the cold. It was believed that this was an allegory of both the season and human life. Previously, the statue was called the sculpture of the Eternal Jew.

Below the Parterre Amphitheater is the Terrace of the Muses. A granite obelisk was installed on it in 1856. Before the 1917 revolution, the top of the obelisk was decorated with a gilded three-headed eagle, and the inscription indicated that it was erected in honor of Nicholas I’s visit to the park. After the revolution, the obelisk and the inscription disappeared, and only for the 200th anniversary of Sofiyivka in 1996, according to the project of the Ukrproektrestavratsiya institute, the same institute produced a three-headed eagle - the family coat of arms of the Romanov dynasty. The obelisk is fenced with a forged decorative chain.

Scientific work

Research laboratory premises

In Sofievka, scientific work is carried out in the field of dendrology, horticulture (including the study, acclimatization and introduction of valuable plants) and park construction, botany and plant ecology. National Dendrological Park "Sofievka" is a research institute within the Department of General Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in accordance with Resolution of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine No. 68 dated April 18, 2005.

Structure of the National Dendrological Park “Sofievka” as a research institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

• The general management of the research institute is carried out by -

Director of the NDP “Sofievka” of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, corresponding member. NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Kosenko I.S.

• Coordination scientific work and general management of scientific departments

carries out Scientific Secretary Ph.D., senior researcher Grabovoy V.N.

• Scientific departments:

1. Department of Dendrology, Plant Construction and Plant Ecology (Head: Candidate of Biological Research, Senior Researcher, Muzyka G.I.)

Park "Sofievka" with a division of dendrologists headed by chief gardener Podolyanets N.P.

2. Department of Plant Reproductive Biology and Implementation (Head: Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Senior Researcher Balabak A.A.)

Research Laboratory for Plant Protection (Head: Doctor of Agricultural Sciences Yanovsky Yu.P.)

Experimental production nursery

3. Department herbaceous plants natural and cultural flora (head candidate biological sciences Kuzemko A.A.)

4. Department of Physiology, Genetics and Plant Breeding (Head of Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor Opalko A.I.)

Laboratory of microclonal propagation of plants (Head of Candidate of Agricultural Sciences Nebikov M.V.)

• Scientific support units and services

1. Division of Scientific and Technical Information. Science Library. 2. Tourist service block: House of Creativity of Scientists, Shop “Flora Sofiyivka”, Aquarium, Cafe “Sofiyivka”, Hotel “Sofievsky” 3. Housekeeping service 4. Machine and tractor service 5. Energy service 6. Repair and maintenance service 7. Service security 8. Accounting and HR department

The main activities of the arboretum:

• study of the natural and cultural flora of the southern part of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine
• preservation in natural conditions in the southern part of the Right Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine of collections of living plants, including rare and endangered species, as well as plantings of landscape compositions of the park
• carrying out research work in the field of introduction and acclimatization of plants and protection of flora, as well as developing issues of landscape park construction based on the arboretum
• development of technology for propagation of the most valuable species and their introduction into culture
• scientific and educational work in the field of botany and nature conservation, ornamental horticulture and landscape architecture

The most important scientific achievements:

Technologies for seed and vegetative propagation of ornamental plants have been developed and modified, for which over 200 thousand seedlings are grown annually, which are used in landscape compositions of the park and other objects in the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine.

In vitro microclonal propagation technologies have been developed for many ornamental and rare plants.

A hazelnut nursery with an area of ​​10 hectares has been created.

Based on research materials of the last decade, over 800 have been published scientific works including 34 monographs.

An archival search was carried out, which established the architectural design of the buildings and restored the historical names of individual compositions and small architectural forms based on images from the poem of Homer Odysseus.

For recent years built in the western part of Sofiyivka new park with an area of ​​53 hectares, in which, using the latest achievements of landscape gardening art, park compositions were created, in which the bulk of the collection fund of introduced plants of the park is concentrated, which, in accordance with the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated February 11, 2004 No. 73, was included in the register of National Heritage.

International scientific and scientific-technical cooperation There are direct cooperation agreements with the Polish Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Botanical Garden of the Poznan University, the Kurnicki Arboretum of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Botanical Garden of the University of Lublin, the Museum Castle in Lanciuti, with the Polish company Super Flora, the Warsaw Botanical Garden of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Botanical Gardens of the University of Warsaw, the Botanical Brno Garden (Czech Republic, Chisinau Botanical Garden (Moldova), Jiamusi University in China, Forestry Administration of Wangqing County, Dilin Province, with Jiamu University (Institute of Life Science), with Beijing Botanical Garden, with Jiamus Horticulture Company Shencai Co. Ltd. in China.)