Oliva - Park Adam Mickiewicz - green oasis in Gdansk

  • Written by Portal Editor

Our trip to Gdansk began with a family reunion at Oliva Park Adam Mickiewicz, formerly and therefore still well known as Oliwski Park, which, as was to be expected, was particularly busy on this Sunday.

At first it was difficult to find a parking space at all, but this was largely due to the well-attended flea market right next to the park, as we found out a little later. This meant that the flow of visitors to the park was quite limited and due to the size of the park, the flow of visitors dispersed quite quickly. Only at the Palm House, probably also due to the park café, were there larger groups waiting for a seat or just wanting to buy an ice cream. But let's start with some background information.

Rococo palace with a baroque garden in a typically geometric shape

The Oliwski Park is a historic park in Gdansk that can be traced back to the 12th century. It was then, in 1186, that the Cistercians came to Oliwa. The monks settled on the Oliwa stream and transformed the forest areas for their own use. Over time, monastery buildings and gardens were built, which served not only economic but also cultural and scientific purposes.

The park received a new, at that time updated design on the initiative of the abbot of Oliwa - Jacek Józef Rybiński, who in 1754-1756 designed a Rococo palace with a garden in a geometric shape typical of Baroque gardens. The design of the new Oliwa Park was developed by the gardener Hentschel and its execution was entrusted to Kazimierz Dębiński from Kock. The park received a spatial arrangement based on two asymmetric axes of different lengths.

The new form of the park also clearly shows the signature of the classical French gardens of the architect Andre de Le Notre, the creator of the ornamental gardens in Versailles. In front of the front of the abbey residence, a flower and lawn garden was created, opening onto a large rectangular pond that lies parallel along the east-west axis.

King Frederick II the Great appoints Karol Hohenzollern-Hechingen as abbot

In 1772, after the first partition of Poland, the town of Oliva was annexed to the Prussian state. In 1782, the Prussian King Frederick II the Great appointed the clergyman Karol Hohenzollern-Hechingen as abbot, who brought Jan Jerzy Saltzmann, the son of the court gardener and creator of the royal gardens in Potsdam, to Oliva. Saltzmann, in keeping with the fashion of the time, tried to imitate nature, based on the ideas of Chinese gardens that were popular at the time. Thus, in the northern part of the park, which is now called the Chinese-English Garden, there are winding paths and water reservoirs that recreate wild nature.

The park is striking in its flora and order. Here you can see such tree and plant species as: tulip tree, Californian fir, Douglas fir, Chinese juniper, warty birch, rhododendron, azalea, Japanese ginkgo, chestnut, hops and Swedish rowan. The park has a botanical garden and a palm house, as well as whispering caves, i.e. acoustic enclosures that allow two people far apart to communicate in a quiet voice.

In the 19th century, Oliwa Park increasingly came into the sights of the inhabitants of Gdansk and the surrounding area. The popularity of the park in Oliwa increased further when Oliwa became the seat of the Bishop of Gdańsk in 1925, the former Cistercian church was elevated to the rank of a cathedral, and in 1927 the State Museum of Gdańsk History was opened.

During World War II, Oliwa Park was partially destroyed by war and fires. After the war, the park was rebuilt and restored by Polish specialists. In the 1950s, a new palm house and a botanical garden were built. And in 1955, on the centenary of Adam Mickiewicz's death, Oliwa Park was officially renamed after him.

Today, Oliwa Park is one of the most beautiful and oldest city gardens in Poland and Europe. It is a place of rest and relaxation for residents and tourists, and a place where numerous cultural and artistic events are organized. The park impresses with its flora and order.

We were able to identify the following tree and plant species as special features: tulip tree, Californian fir, Douglas fir, Chinese juniper, warty birch, rhododendron, azalea, Japanese ginkgo, chestnut, hops and Swedish rowan. The park has a botanical garden and a palm house as well as so-called whispering caves, i.e. acoustic enclosures that allow two people far apart to communicate in a quiet voice.

What is very attractive and widely known about Oliwa Park are the concerts held there in the summer season, with mainly classical music. In winter, the Christmas lights are admired by numerous visitors. Oliwa Park is a place that brings joy in every season and invites visitors to Gdansk to discover its secrets.

The Palm House in Oliwa Park - an eye-catcher

The Oliwa Palm House is a historic greenhouse with exotic plants, which was built in the second half of the 18th century as a conservatory of the monastery and in which imported plants from various parts of the world were collected. The Palm House was part of the baroque park, designed by the gardener Hentschel. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Palm House was expanded and modernized several times. In 1954, a new, cylindrical building with a glass dome was built, reaching a height of 15 meters.

In 2017, construction began on a new rotunda that was to be higher and more spacious than the previous one in order to accommodate the date palm, which has been growing continuously for 180 years. This construction was associated with many difficulties and delays. In 2020, work began on modernizing the orangery belonging to the Palm House.

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