National Arboretum Sofiyevka

The love story between the Polish Magnate Count Stanislaw Szczesny Potocki and a beautiful Greek woman Sofia is romantic and enchanting. It is doubtful that it would come to our minds 200 years after the fact had it not been for Count Potocki, who immortalized his feelings for this beautiful creation. In the picturesque town of Uman he built a park and named it after his dear beloved.

The story behind Sofiyevka Park is closely intertwined with the history of the Potocki Family. In 1609 the King of Poland gave these lands to Count Kalinowski. In time, the lands were sold to Stanislaw Potocki, and then they were given to his nephew Franciszek Salezy Potocki, the grandson of the ruling King of Rzeczpospolita Polska and father of the future founder of Sofiyevka Park. His only son, Stanislaw Szczesny Potocki (1751-1805), was a well-known political figure of his time, who too had experienced passionate love and tragic loss in his own life.

Pictured (left to right):
1 - Attic style
2 - Sofia Witt
3 - Shore benches
4 - Statue of Cupid

 

 

In 1770 Stanislaw secretly married his first love, Gertruda Komorovska, a girl from a family without wealth. The Potocki Family was not willing to accept the marriage. Upon their orders, the already pregnant girl was kidnapped with the intention of placing her in a monastery. On the way there, Gertruda was covered by pillows and she suffocated to death. After such a loss Stanislaw was barely saved from committing suicide. But his parents were punished for such a crime: within a year they both died. Stanislaw inherited a luxurious manor in Krystynopol (current day Chervonohrad in Lviv Region). In 1775 he built a new residence with a palace and a park in Tulchin. All together, Stanislaw Szczesny Potocki owned around 1.5 million hectares of land and 130 thousand villagers and had an annual income of approximately 3 million zlotys. When he met Sofia, Stanislaw Shchesny Potocki was married to Jozephina Amalia Mniszech, who came from a wealthy noble family, had a title that could be likened to that of a senator — Voivode of Ruthenia (governor of an administrative division of the Kingdom of Poland). As an influential individual of the times he had not disassociated himself from the pressing problems of international and political life like the Russo-Turkish War and the battles between many political groups in Poland. It was during this time that he fell in love with Sofia Witt, a Greek woman without a definite background and wife of the commandant of the Kamenets fortress general Joseph Witt.

Pictured (left to right):

1 - Stanislaw Shchesny Potocki

2 - Landscape gardening

3 - Antique statue

 

 

According to the version of the well-known historian of the second half of the XIX century, Joseph Rolle, Sofia owed her rapid success in life thanks to the Polish ambassador to Turkey, Karol Boscamp-Liasopolski, who allowed her to live in his palace in Istanbul. There the girl learned the nuts and bolts of a worldly lifestyle and received an education. The enchanting, cultured and educated beauty, not overly bogged down by norms of morality, was able to overcome the obstacles of her social status and in 1779 she secretly married major Joseph Witt. Their trip together throughout Europe in 1781 served as a triumph for Sofia. Famous people of high rank like the King of Poland Stanislaw August, the King of Prussia Frederick II and the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, Count of Provence (who later became Louis XVIII, the King of France), were taken away by her beauty. In time this beauty began to take advantage of her attributes to carry out political tasks she was entrusted with. The memoirs of the time recount her trips to Vienna, Istanbul, the headquarters of the Russian army in Iassi, where she is described as being seen in the company of field marshal general Grigory Potemkin, even in St. Petersburg. After the rapid death of Potocki's wife Jozephina and the divorce of Sofia with Joseph Witt, nothing stood in the way of the love between Stanislaw and Sofia. Sofia and Count Potocki got married. And in 1796 in the honor of their love, the Count started building a park in a valley near the Kamenka River in Uman, the motto of which became the words etched on an obelisk “With love - for Sofia”.

Pictured (left to right):

1 - Sofia Witt

2 - Parterre amphitheatre

3 - Statue of Venus of Medici in Grotto of Thetis

4 - Cretan labirinth

 

 

In a short time span a tremendous amount of work was done in building the park. In 1833 Nikolay Andreyev's Travel Sketches, described the process in the following way: «With the Count's swift sweep, deep ponds, lakes, and gardens were dug, high mounds were made, long and wide dams, plans for valleys were drafted, mountains were blown up with explosives, trails and cliffs, little rivers, crags and abysses were built. Precious and rare trees from different climates were bought for large sums of money, shipped and planted. A small brook, known to the people of Uman for its purity was closed off by a strong dam, creating a large water storage reservoir. Churches were built, monuments were erected, grots were carved out, entire gardens of trees and thousands of fragrant flowers were planted. And in such a way, the wild and remote wilderness, with the desire of the magnate, turned into Armida's Garden». According to the architectural plans, the park was supposed to house a palace, however these plans were never implemented. Overall, the park cost 2 million roubles in silver or 15 million Polish zlotys, to build.

The official opening of the park took place in 1802. But the Potocki's did not take pleasure in their luxurious park for long. On March 14, 1805, Count Potocki died prematurely. In accordance with his will, all his wealth was passed on to his son Jerzy Feliks and then Jerzy bequeathed it to Sofia. She managed the park up until her death in 1822. The last owner of the park was Aleksander Potocki. After the Polish Insurrection of 1831 was put down, in which Aleksander took part, he moved to Vienna. After this in 1832, the park was passed on into government hands.

Pictured (left to right):
1 - Alcove
2 - Snake Fountain
3 - Ducks 

 

 

Current day Sofiyevka Park is a combination of various exhibitions of rock, ponds, spacious valleys decorated with summer houses and statues. The park was to remind the Countess of her native Greek land, and this is why the main composition of the park is based on a mythological theme. When visitors first enter the park, they see the pavilion near the picturesque Lower Pond named after the Roman goddess Flora. This composition brings happy spring holidays to mind, the Florialia, when people celebrating the coming of spring decorate themselves in flowers, wreaths and dress up in colorful clothing. The sharp, elastic and flexible sculpture of the Snake Fountain with a 16-metered water fountain, recreates the antique legend about the immense dragon that the Greeks saw during their attack on Troy. On a granite pedestal stands a statue of the Greek poet and dramatist Euripides. At various times Sofiyevka Park was adorned with different busts of famous Greeks including Homer, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The Upper Pond, the Enchanting Sea, is a unique composition. Amidst the water kingdom an artificially made Island of Love comes into view, with a Pink Pavilion that can only be reached by ferryboat. The Amsterdam sluice-gate was built to allow the passages of boats from the Upper Pond into the underground river Acheron and onto the Dead Sea. The length of the underground river is 211 meters, and a mystifying voyage in a lowly lit underground kingdom awaits visitors to the Park.

Every corner of the Park which has captivated visitors for 200 years is filled with legends and romance. It draws us in with its tranquility and serenity permeated with memories of the wondrous and tragic pages of human love.

Pictured (left to right):

1 - Western Grotto

2 - Tempe Valley

3 - Entrance to the underground river