In October 1791, in Yassy, then capital of Moldova (now in Romania), where de Vitt was stationed, Sofia met Count Potocki for the first time. Love disarmed the married Count; gossips and rumours about the couple spread from Vienna to St-Petersburg. They are surrounded by legends even now, just like the park. Thet say that Potocki literally bought Sofia from her husband Joseph de Vitt. From 1796 to 1805, Potocki created for his dear wife a piece of her native Greece in the ancient style. They say that the park was built by Potocki’s serfs, and its creator was the talented artillerist-inventor Ludwig Metzel (1764-1848). About 800 peasants worked on it daily and received wages for their work, as Potocki abolished serfdom on his lands. The building of the park cost Potocki fifteen million zloty (or two million silver roubles) and nearly bankrupted him! Count Potocki was advised by ex-husband Joseph de Vitt to sell Sofia yet again and recoup his losses…
Visitors already delighted in “Sofiyivka” in the beginning of the 19th century. Poets wrote about it, and in 1820, Russian Tsar Alexander I visited it. Stanislaw Pototskiy’s vision was even grander and had plans for the building of a luxurious palace and the creation of the biggest park of Europe. The untimely death of the magnate on March 14, 1805 prevented the full implementation of his ideas. Sofia reigned in her eponymous green kingdom until her death in 1822. It is strange that the park never became her favourite place: the countess tried to sell Sofiyivka to the royal treasury many times. After her, her son Aleksandr took care of the park…
“Sofiyivka” is really impressive: there are exotic trees from all countries of the world, marble sculptures that seem to come from the pages of the Iliad and Odyssey, numerous ponds, waterfalls, fountains and grottos. It also covers an impressive area: 179 hectares is a lot of land. By the way, modern “Sofiyivka” is different from the green paradise of beautiful Sofia. In 1836-1859 the park, at the time named “Queen’s Garden”, had been considerably enhanced.
Already in 1929 this wonderful landmark was declared a national reserve. In 2004, “Sofiyivka” attained the status of National Arboretum, and in 2007 it was declared one of the seven wonders of Ukraine. Is it a wonder that asteroid #2259, discovered in 1971 was named after “Sofiyivka” in 1985?
