Landscape garden Oleksandria

How to get there:

From Kyiv by car: Kyiv - Odesa road.
From Kyiv by mashrutka: Marshrutkas to Bila Tserkva run from Kyiv Central Railway Station (Vokzal'na metro, red line), metro station Lybids'ka (blue line), metro station Palats Ukraina (blue line). Ticket approx - 19 grv.
From Kyiv by train: Electric train to Mironivka goes via Bila Tserkva from Kyiv Central Railway Station.

In Bila Tserkva:
from the Train Station: take marshrutka #13
from Svoboda Square: take marshrutka #1 or bus #22

: Landscape garden Oleksandria

Landscape garden Oleksandria is located on the picturesque banks of the Ros River in Bila Tserkva - the biggest city of the Kyiv oblast. Bila Tserkva was founded as a fortress in 1032 by Kyivan Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Its first name was Yuryiv. There was a mountain in the heart of the town with a castle on it. There was a white church on this mountain as well. In the ІЗth с. the city practically perished after the terrible devastation by the Mongols. There was only the white church left in the burnt to ashes town. This building, made of white stone, served as a reference point in the wild and thick forests of the Ros river valley for a long time. Only in the mid-16th c. the city was rebuilt and got the name Bila Tserkva, which means "White Church". The Church itself has disappeared in the whirl of historic events, and now nobody could even tell how it was ruined. Only some remnants of it have been found on Zamkova Gora (mountain) during archeological excavations in the 20th century.

At the end of 18th century the Polish king Stanislaw August Poniatowski gave the city Bila Tserkva as a present to the Great Hetman of Poland Xavier Branická. In 1781 Xavier married Alexandra Enhelhardt, who was a favorite chamber-maid of honor of Catherine II and a niece of Prince Grygory Potemkin. So, on their lands near the city Bila Tserkva, the Countess has decided to create a landscape park according to the fashion of that time. The author of the general plan of the park has become a famous French architect Muffo. Later on, such architects and gardeners have worked at the construction of the park as Botany, Stanhe, Bartetsky, Witt and Enns. They've implemented the general project plan and laid the base of the park complex, using existing forest and steppe landscape and natural oak plantation.

Soon, a new mansion of Branicki, surrounded by a strikingly picturesque landscape park, Oleksandriya Park (Alexanria in Russian), emerged in the western part of the city. It occupies an area of 201,5 hectares and is one of the largest in Ukraine. The architectural ensemble of the manor estate included a palace, four guest outhouses, a dancing hall, the ‘Moon’ colonnade-amphitheatre, the Rotunda pavilion and other structures. The park was set up on the bank of the Ros River in the valleys of three ravines with spring water streams, which enabled to create ponds, fountains, and artificial waterfalls, to build arches and Chinese bridges. The park was decorated with numerous marble and bronze sculptures.

Rare exotic plants have been brought from North America and Western Europe. The Countess Branitska was the main initiator of the plants collection. Olexandria greenhouse was famous and gorgeous. There was a great diversity of cultivated species and varieties of cactuses, palms, orchids, figs, lemons, Italian grapes, Chinese roses, which have been reaching sizes, never seen before.

The park, founded in late 18th century, has changed drastically owing to the efforts of the gardener Enns Augustus, who has worked in Olexandria for 54 years and was awarded a commemorative plate in honor of 50 years of service. During his long service Enns has formed a picturesque landscape, which is admired by nowadays: spruce, lime and chestnut avenues Big and Small meadows compositions.

Sixteen magnificent marble sculptures made by Italian artists: Three Graces (Antonio Canova), Boy with a dog and Boy with a bow (Pampoloni) and others are preserved at the Park Museum. In 1949 Olexandria Park became a research establishment of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Issues related to the introduction and acclimatization of plants, preservation and restoration of old plantations are the main subjects of the scientific research. There are about 2500 species, forms and varieties of plants in the park. Some of them are over 200 years old. The centuries-old oak park is of a particular value.

Unofficial Oleksandria Park website

The city’s architectural landmarks include Branytski Winter Palace, the 19th century Nobility Assembly, the 1814 Covered Market, the 1831 Complex of Postal Buildings, the mid-19th century Gymnasuim etc. The pearl of the local architecture is the 1812 John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church on the Castle Hill.

: Olexandria Map

1 – Main entrance; 2 – Main alley; 3 – Northern entrance; 4 – Palace complex; 5 – Composition "Varna"; 6 – Colonade Pelican; 7 – Rotonda; 8 – Memorial sign; 9 – Spring "Lion"; 10 – Colonade "Echo"; 11 – Big lawn; 12 – Chinese bridge; 13 – Arch bridge; 14 – Turkish bridge; 15 – Ens Colonade; 16 – "Ruins"; 17 – Colonade "Globe"; 18 – Pavilion; 19 – Novopark; 20 – Administration, Museum; 21 – Pavilion; 22 – Upland lawn; 23 – Palieva mountain; 4 – Nuts lawn; 25 – Small lawn; 26 – Park entrance; 27 – Garden "Mur"; 28 – Oak park

Where to stay in Bila Tserkva:

Hotel "Tsentral'ny"
Address: 50 richchya of Peremogy blvd., 15
Tel: +380 456 391675
Email: info@hotelcentral.com.ua
Web: http://www.hotelcentral.com.ua

Hotel "Soborny"
Address: Soborna sq., 1/1
Tel: +380 456 399620
Email: admin@hotel-sobornuy.com.ua
Web: http://hotel-sobornuy.com.ua

Hotel "Kyiv"
Address: Torgova sq., 3
Tel: +380 456 353563
Email: info@hotel-kiev.co.ua
Web: http://www.hotel-kiev.co.ua

Hotel "Vizyt"
Address: Schorsa street, 65а
Tel: +380 456 361311