Sofiyivsky Park (SOFIEVKA)

About four hours of bus/train ride from Kyiv, there is a town of Uman, with its sprawling Sofiyivsky national botanical park. Being one of the oldest towns in Ukraine, Uman has seen different times in its history. It has seen Tatars raids, at some point (in 1667) it became a part of Poland, and later it used to be a home for Ukrainian cossacks.

In the end of XVIII century a magnificent garden was laid there, on the woodless rocky area by Count Potoski, a noble Polish magnate.

The Park has a long and interesting history. In 1796 Count Potoski named the Park in honor of his attractive and adorable wife, Sofia Wett. Sofiyivsky Park has a number of waterfalls, fountains, ponds, narrow arching bridges crossing the streams and a stone garden. It is a good example of late 17th or early 18th century European landscape garden design preserved to the present time. Sofiyivsky Park is similar to New York’s Central Park or San Francisco’s Gloden Gate Park.

Paths are laid across 150 hectares of territory, and provide easy access to notable sights including the Island of Love, the Lion's Grotto, the Grotto of Venus and Hippocreme's Well. The trees were planted so, that if one looks from above, the trees form the name “Sofia” (only in Russian lettering).

Sofievka captures attention of everyone by its original idea and architecture, which is like nothing on earth. The new views and landscapes have been opened by every turn of paths. A thousand workers were hired to create this wonderful ensemble of nature and architecture. When the works in and around Park, the master ordered to cut the main architect's right hand and blind him. He wanted to make sure that nothing more beautiful can ever be created on Earth. 

After the dearth of her husband, Sofia didn’t care about the Park at all. She turned out to be a cruel and a very pragmatic woman. She refused to expand the Park, because it hadn’t brought any profit. She invested the inherited capital into more profitable indusrties.  The park was restored between 1966 and 1972.

The area's only drawback is that there are a paucity of dining options in the park itself. So, if you are going to spend a day there, take some breakfast food and put on some comfortable walking shoes.

On the hill overlooking the park, there is a small hotel - just two or three rooms. The hotel's restaurant is often reserved for parties, but the staff is helpful and the room rates are very low. Check in, hit the sauna and stay there overnight.