Parks have been offering city folk welcome respite from bricks, concrete and stone for hundreds of years. Many have come and gone, and of the ones that are left there’s a lot of debate over which has been around the longest. Here are some of the contenders for oldest public park in the world. (Marco Bellucci took the stunning featured image above.)
City Park – Budapest, Hungary
This large resplendent UNESCO World Heritage site was made open to the public around the beginning of the 19th century.
City Park is home to many of Budapest’s most notable attractions, such as Heroes’ Square and the Szechenyi thermal baths, as well as the largest ice rink in Europe.
Saxon Park – Warsaw, Poland
Since opening in 1727, Saxon Park has undergone many changes during the city’s tempestuous history – most notably the destruction of the palace that used to be adjoined to it.
Visitors have plenty to see today though, including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and many late-Baroque statues of Greek gods and muses.
Princes Park – Liverpool, England
The first purpose-built public park (not one attached to a palace or the aristocracy) was opened in 1842.
Joseph Paxton’s design influenced many of the later public parks that came to be built during the Victorian period around the country – this means Paxton has collectively cheered up more city-dwellers over the last century and a half than, say, free chips with every parking ticket ever could.
