Maksimir Park

Maksimir Park is the oldest public park in Zagreb, Croatia. It forms part of the city's cultural heritage and is a habitat for many different plant and animal species.

This article is about the park in Zagreb. For the football stadium see Stadion Maksimir; for other uses, see Maksimir (disambiguation).
Maksimir Park
Maksimir Park main entrance
LocationZagreb, Croatia
Area316 hectares (780 acres) 3.15 km2[1]
FounderMaksimilijan Vrhovac
Operated byCity of Zagreb
Websitewww.park-maksimir.hr

History
An 1846 map of the park.

Founded in 1787, Maksimir Park was the first large public park in South-Eastern Europe, and predates the majority of Europe's public park foundings.[2] The park was opened in 1794[3] under the initiative of the man for whom it was named, Bishop Maksimilijan Vrhovac of Zagreb (1752–1827).[2] At that time, the park was located on the outskirts of the city, although today it is surrounded by many of the city's neighborhoods. It was formerly a dense forest of hornbeams (Carpinus betulus) and oaks (Quercus robur and Q. petraea). The remainder of the original forest survives as a girdle to the park, the area in total measuring above 1,005 acres (4.07 km2).[2]

Landscaping
Maksimir Park in April.

Although the landscaping was first conceived by Bishop Vrhovac in the baroque style,[2] in 1839, Bishop Juraj Haulik (1788–1869), and others redesigned the park. Haulik's vision was very much in line with Biedermeierist notions, and romantic neoclassicism, with elements from historicism; and in emulation of the park at the Laxenburg estate of the Habsburgs.

Aerial photo of Maksimir Park.

The process of transforming Maksimir Park involved the felling of the forest interior, the grading of hills, the excavating of great holes for lakes, the laying of paths, and construction of bridges.[2]

Others who were instrumental in the making of the park were sculptors Anton Dominik Fernkorn (1813–1878), and Josip Kassmann (1784–1856); master gardener Franjo Serafin Korbler (1812–1866); landscape architect Michael Sebastian Riedel (1763–1850); and architect Franz Schücht.[2]

Schücht's contributions include, among others, Paviljon Jeka (The Pavilion of Echoes), a lookout known as the Kiosk, and a house called Švicarska kuća (The Swiss House).

Design
Turtles in the Maksimir lake.

The park has several big meadows, numerous creeks, and five lakes, and is a habitat for various plant and animal species, such as the Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius), an endangered species in Europe.[1]

Zagreb’s Zoo also forms part of the park’s territory, located in the southern part of Maksimir Park.

In addition to the park, the name Maksimir may also refer to one of Zagreb’s neighborhoods and NK Dinamo’s stadium, both of which are adjacent to the park.

Location and access

Maksimir is located in the eastern central part of the city.

ZET tram lines 4, 5, 7, 11 and 12 frequently connect the park to the rest of the city. A stop named Bukovačka is located at the main entrance into the park.

A less frequent bus route 226 from a nearby Svetice terminal connects to the Mirogoj cemetery and goes on to the Kaptol terminal in the old city centre.

gollark: I wonder how hard/expensive it'd be to run your own channel on the satellite system if there are THAT many.
gollark: We have exciting TV like "BBC Parliament".
gollark: Analog TV got shut down here ages ago.
gollark: So I guess if you consider license costs our terrestrial TV is *not* free and costs a bit more than Netflix and stuff. Oops.
gollark: - it funds the BBC, but you have to pay it if you watch *any* live TV, or watch BBC content online- it's per property, not per person, so if you have a license, and go somewhere without a license, and watch TV on some of your stuff, you are breaking the law (unless your thing is running entirely on battery power and not mains-connected?)- it costs about twice as much as online subscription service things- there are still black and white licenses which cost a third of the priceBut the enforcement of it is even weirder than that:- there are "TV detector vans". The BBC refuses to explain how they actually work in much detail. With modern TVs I don't think this is actually possible, and they probably can't detect iPlayer use, unless you're stupid enough to sign up with your postcode (they started requiring accounts some years ago).- enforcement is apparently done by some organization with almost no actual legal power (they can visit you and complain, but not *do* anything without a search warrant, which is hard to get)- so they make up for it by sending threatening and misleading letters to try and get people to pay money

References
  1. "General Data". park-maksimir.hr. Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  2. ed. Patrick Taylor (2006). The Oxford Companion to the Garden. Oxford University Press. pp. 295–6. ISBN 0-19-866255-6.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. "Park's History". park-maksimir.hr. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2012.

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