Basic information
The Smetana Park was founded in 1820 by planting an area between the Theresian and the Catherine Gate on the western perimeter of the city belonging formerly to the city fortress. This first Olomouc park called the Rudolf Alley was completely destroyed in the first year of the Austro-Prussian War.
Already in the second half of 1866, however, the city restored the main alley – according to the project of Arch. Max Machánek – by planting a 710 m long avenue of chestnut and lime trees. The alley, a significant architectural feature and a symbol of Olomouc’s parks to this day, got its current shape in 1919 by trimming the lime and chestnut trees into high straight walls. The park also has some interesting sculptures. In 1925, a statue of Bedřich Smetana was unveiled, after whom the park was named. A number of works were created by Julius Pelikán, the pupil of J.V. Myslbek, one of the most important Czech sculptors – the entrance portal of the Palm House or the memorial of the botanist and director of a Czech secondary school in Olomouc, František Polívka. In 1932, a stone monument in memory of the World Esperanto Congress was erected in the park.
Next to common, mainly deciduous, trees, there are many dendrological marvels presented in the Smetana Park – bald cypress native to the swamps of Florida growing on the banks of a lake, a group of dawn redwoods, deciduous conifers, growing in the middle of the Magnolia Garden. Other attractions in the Smetana Park include one of the oldest species in the world – the maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba). The huge North American honey locust is conspicuous with its brown, up to 40 cm long, pods. In late spring, the tulip tree blooms with large tulip-like flowers of orange-green. Groups of pagoda trees and eastern black walnuts enhance the park’s beauty.
Other rare tree species include the Amur cork tree and Himalayan pine with bundles of fine needles. The Magnolia Garden is a relaxing area in the vicinity of the pinetum. In the spring it provides a charming view of a flood of white and pink flowers, some of which reach up to 20 cm. In the fall and from freezing winter into spring, yellow and red marvellous blossoms of East Asian and American witch-hazel bushes attract the attention of visitors.