Park im. Józefa Piłsudskiego / Park na Zdrowiu

Park im. Józefa Piłsudskiego, called Park na Zdrowiu by residents of Łódź, is the largest park in the city and one of the larger urban parks in Europe. It has a forest character, as it was created on the grounds of the former city forest, and within its boundaries contains a nature reserve established in 1930.

How many hectares does this park actually have

Sources give different figures because the park's boundaries changed over a hundred years.

The City Green Spaces Authority gives 168.7 hectares, Wikipedia 188.21 hectares, and the Cultural Information Portal 172 hectares. The park reached its maximum area of 237 hectares in 1948, when it also included the Botanical Garden and zoo. The grounds extend between aleja Unii Lubelskiej and the streets Srebrzyńska, Krakowska, Krzemieniecka and Konstantynowska.

From city forest to people's park

Teodor Chrząński, creator of Poniatowski and Sienkiewicz parks, developed the first concept for the park in 1904.

During the First World War the forest shrank from around 400 hectares to 115. Work on developing the park began in the nineteen-twenties, and Stefan Rogowicz finalised the ultimate plan. The City Green Spaces Authority dates its creation to between 1919 and 1939. The park was previously known as Park Ludowy. It is entered in the heritage register under numbers A/332 from 24 March 1993 and 226/P-VII-20 from 24 May 1946.

Traces of the 1905 revolution

Within the park grounds, Tsarist authorities buried the bodies of those killed and executed in the revolution of 1905 to 1907.

To commemorate their memory, a memorial mound was raised in 1920, and in 1923 the Column of Revolutionaries was erected, destroyed by the Nazi occupier. In 1975 the Monument to Revolutionary Action was unveiled, and on 27 May 2019 the Monument to Łódź Revolutionaries, fighters for freedom.

Nature reserve, zoo and aquapark in one place

Within the park's boundaries lies the Polesie Konstantynowskie nature reserve with an area of 9.8 hectares.

It was established by City Council resolution on 23 May 1930, at a time when the city forest was being converted into a recreational park, and is considered the first nature reserve established within the administrative boundaries of a city in Poland. It was formally re-established by ordinance in 1954. It protects a forest fragment with natural features: remnants of boggy alder woodland, patches of hornbeam forest and ash-alder riverine forest, with black alder aged 80 to 100 years, hornbeam, silver birch and sessile oak.

The park is neighboured by a zoological garden with Orientarium, the Botanical Garden and Aquapark Fala. Within the grounds are also ponds, a dendrology garden, sports pitches and courts, a children's playground, an open-air fitness area, an amusement park and a concert shell. Just beyond the southern edge stand Atlas Arena and the ŁKS stadium.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Konstantynowska 3/5, Łódź, Polesie district.
• Access: entrances from Konstantynowska, Srebrzyńska, Krzemieniecka streets and aleja Unii Lubelskiej, the nearest tram stop is Konstantynowska at Park im. Piłsudskiego.
• Admission to the park is free, but the zoo, Botanical Garden and Aquapark Fala have their own tickets and opening hours.
• What to expect: extensive grounds with a forest character, long walking and running paths, a nature reserve closed to tourist traffic.