A Unique Project for the History and Culture Park Ancient Zvenyhorod Presented in Lviv
The project for the Ancient Zvenyhorod Park was presented in Lviv. It is going to be the first in Ukraine historical and cultural park located on the archeological heritage site. It will be designed and implemented in the village of Zvenyhorod, 25 km southeast from Lviv. About one thousand years ago, the area placed a large city, one of the first three princely capitals in the Ukrainian Prykarpattia region.
“It will be a park with several functions combined. On the one hand, we shall make a recreation area welcoming visitors, on the other hand, we will think through every detail so that visitors could learn as much as possible about the Age of Principalities in Ukraine, as well as about the history of Zvenyhorod itself. Thus, it will be a large educational and research center,” says Natalia Voytseshchuk, an archeologist, one of the initiators of the project.
“We are guided by two objectives when creating the park, such as preserving a cultural layer of the archeological site and its conservation, as well as representation of history of the ancient capital city of Zvenyhorod,” shares Vira Hupalo, a Doctor of History, a longstanding researcher of Zvenyhorod, a scholarly supervisor for the project to create a history and culture park Ancient Zvenyhorod.
The park will cover the area of over 30 hectares. A key focus will be to preserve a unique archeological site. At the same time, the park will be made comfortable for visitors: the present central plaza will be transformed into a large recreation area, while the territory of the ancient settlement will have a network of paths, the lighting, and signage for key elements.
“The park is a dynamic space that has to become the place of time travel to the past. The journey will start from the central square in the village where a public space will be arranged, and a large playground for children. Therefrom, visitors will transfer to the space of the past: when they get to the area of the ancient settlement they could walk around the territory of the once existing city. The information signage and the multimedia technologies will help see not only the present-day landscape, but also the reconstructions of the ancient city views. We find it very important to have people get closer to the ancient city through modern technologies, but not through the rebuilt structures. There will be no construction works in the park such as pouring concrete or bricklaying. The material artefacts will be available in the museum at the well-established exhibition. This trip through space and time will be the basis for the Ancient Zvenyhorod park,” explains Vasyl Petryk, a Candidate of History, and an architect in the project for creating a history and culture park Ancient Zvenyhorod.
It would be possible to recreate the views of the ancient city due to a parallel project “Ancient Zvenyhorod: Branding and Promotion of the Princely Capital” awarded a grant this year from the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The project plans the creation of the 3D-reconstruction of the princely capital of the 11th century to the 1st half of the 13th century. It would help imagine the lifestyles of Zvenyhorod citizens from almost a thousand years ago. Later, it will be included into the exhibition. In addition, the project includes presentations of the park in Lviv, Kyiv, Odesa, Krakow, and Warsaw. All news updates could be followed online, on the website and in social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram.
Initiators for the creation of the park hope it would be relevant for Lviv citizens in the first place, but also for domestic and international visitors. According to Vasyl Petryk, the establishment of the park shall give an impetus to a series of projects within the village of Zvenyhorod and the nearby villages, ranging from research and development to tourist initiatives.
The initiative group hopes to start the arrangement of the park still this summer – as soon as the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine allocates the required funding. Weather permitting, the works will take for slightly over a year. Official opening of the park is scheduled for 2020. The funding for the establishment of the park will be provided within the EU program for sectoral budget support. Appr. UAH 12 mln is planned for it. The project is commissioned by the Department for Architecture and Urban Development of Lviv Regional State Administration.