Enjoy the Tranquility of Trostyanets Park
With around 520 species of plants in a largely untamed setting, the spectacular park established near Trostyanets by Ivan Skoropadsky (1805-1887) offers visitors tranquil solitude surrounded by nature. The structured arboretum of the park has an estimated 1,700 specimens of plants, many of which are more than a century old, with some believed to be up to three hundred years old. While a large number of the plants in the park and arboretum are endemic to Ukraine, many were transported from Asian and European countries, as well as from the Americas, Australia and the Pacific islands. With both evergreen and deciduous plants and trees, the park changes appearance as seasons come and go.
As a descendent of Ivan Skoropadsky, Hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks from 1708 to 1722, the founder of the park was born on 12 January 1805 at the family estate near the town of Hlukhov. Although he served in the Siversky Cavalry regiment for a length of time, he did not follow in the footsteps of his ancestors, and in 1822 he left military service and started devoting much of his time and resources to turning his land at Trostyanets into a little piece of paradise. Although he owned land in various parts of the Chernihiv and Poltava regions, he favored Trostyanets and started extending its boundaries by buying up the land around it.
A wealthy man by any definition, Skoropadsky’s staff included 2,350 male serfs, while his commercial interests included sugar plantations and wineries, as well as horse and sheep breeding farms. But the landscaping of the 200-hectare plot of land was a major project which Skoropadsky supervised personally. In a period of more than fifty years, the land was contoured with mounds, valleys and ponds, while trees, shrubs and other flora were planted according to detailed plans drawn up by Skoropadsky. It is said that when he died in 1887, he was at his desk, sketching plans for his beloved garden.
Although the garden was carefully planned, it never looked contrived. The only artificial features of the park are some ancient stone idols discovered in the steppes and believed to have been abandoned by nomads. With the 1918 revolution, any buildings that had stood in the park were destroyed and the grounds taken over by nature. Today, visitors to the park will find a charming blend of trees, meadows and placid lakes, as well as a monument to Ivan Skoropadsky – the designer of the charming Trostyanets Park.
