Park Casimir the Great Bydgoszcz

Park Casimir the Great
Park Kazimierza Wielkiego
Park Casimir the Great
Type	Urban park
Location	Bydgoszcz
Area	2,24
Created	1615
Status	Open all year

Coordinates: 53°7′32″N 18°0′18″E / 53.12556°N 18.00500°E / 53.12556; 18.00500

Casimir the Great Park is the oldest park in Bydgoszcz, covering an area of 2.24 ha. The park is located in a central part of downtown Bydgoszcz, bordered by Gdańska Street, Konarski Street, Jagiellońska street and Freedom Square. Its area represents a rectangle of 100m by 200m.

Park Casimir the Great is a fragment of the much larger park of the Order of Saint Clare in Bydgoszcz dating back to the first half of the 17th century. Sisters of Poor Clares came to Bydgoszcz in 1615, and after the construction of the monastery (now one of the city museum buildings), the adjacent garden was created and organized. It can be accessed today through an alley at 3 May Street 3: its surface is approximately 3.5 hectares. The original garden was not only ornamental, but also practical: a fish pond, a kitchen garden, an orchard with medicinal plants were part of it.

After secularization of the order by the Prussian authorities, the garden belonged to the regional office of Bydgoszcz, which turned it into a three hectare "District Park" (German: Regierungs Garten) in 1835, forbidden to city residents. In 1861 two swans and carp were purchased for the two ponds.