Park im. Prezydentów II Rzeczpospolitej

Park im. Prezydentów II Rzeczpospolitej occupies the centre of Spała, on aleja Mościckiego. It was established in 1884 as a garden in the English style, laid out around a small palace built for the Tsar's family, and only acquired its present name and formal historic status in 2010. It is one of the oldest and most ecologically valuable parks in the region, with tree stock dating back to before the garden's establishment.

Garden designed around a Tsarist residence

The park was designed in 1884 by architect Leon Mikucki from Kraków, composing it in the style of English landscape gardens around a small palace erected for the Tsar's family. The designer combined the existing old-growth forest of Puszcza Pilicka [Pilicka Forest] that occupied the site with new species brought from distant regions, among others from the Caucasus. Thanks to this, from the outset the park combined natural forest with a collection of trees of foreign origin.

Expansion according to the design of Franciszek Szanor

In 1922-1924 the garden was redesigned and expanded according to the design of Franciszek Szanor, one of the leading Polish landscape architects of that period. It was then that the park acquired the layout close to its present form. In 1950 it was entered in the register of monuments, which confirmed its historical and compositional value.

Pines from Puszcza Pilicka

The greatest natural curiosity of the park is the pine trees originating from the primeval forest of Puszcza Pilicka, on which the park was established. They are over 120 years old and have a circumference reaching almost six metres. These trees, alongside the small palace and the history of the place, constitute the unique character of this greenery in the centre of Spała.

Presidential guests and the naming in 2010

During the interwar period, presidents Stanisław Wojciechowski and Ignacy Mościcki frequently stayed in Spała. Mościcki, an enthusiastic hunter, introduced the custom of celebrating all-Polish harvest festivals in Spała. The park received its present name on 9 August 2010 during a formal naming ceremony, in which took part among others professor Hanna Mościcka-Grzesiak, great-granddaughter of president Ignacy Mościcki, and professor Maciej Grabski, grandson of president Stanisław Wojciechowski. The small palace itself, around which the park was laid out, later became the nucleus of the present Centralny Ośrodek Sportu w Spale [Central Sports Centre in Spała], established on the grounds of the former presidential residence. In Spała itself there also survives the Dwór Carski [Tsarist Manor], testimony to the same era of leisure visits by the Tsar's family to the city.

Practicalities

• Address: al. Mościckiego, Spała, city centre
• Getting there: the park is located in the centre of Spała, within walking distance from the city's main streets
• What to expect: an extensive landscape park with old-growth trees, including characteristic pines over 120 years old, and a historic compositional layout from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Opening hours and any access restrictions are worth checking before your visit