Istanbul Park, Odessa, Ukraine

Istanbul Park in Odessa – a modern picturesque park with an area of 2.7 hectares that is beautifully landscaped. It just opened recently, but has already become a popular holiday destination for Odessa citizens and tourists.

The park on the slopes of Primorsky Boulevard have existed since the XIX century, experiencing the best and worst times in terms of how well they have been maintained. In recent years the square was abandoned, and in 2013 the city authorities conceived of reconstructing it for the 20th anniversary of the sister-city relations between Odessa and Istanbul. Since then the park has been called Istanbul Park.

The first stone of the new park was also laid in 2013, but the real work began 3 years later using the money allocated by the municipality of Istanbul. For the reconstruction of the square 1.5 million dollars was spent. The landscape design of the park was developed by Turkish specialists, and the landscape company “Gorzelentrest” was contracted to redesign the future look of the park. In the park flower beds were planted to look like Turkish national ornaments.

In the process of reconstruction trails of gravel were laid, all the slopes were covered with a green lawn and equipped with benches, and lighting was installed. The highlight of the Istanbul park is the central square on which is located a fountain, a cozy gazebo and a small pump-room in an oriental style.

For the comfort of visitors in the park, informative signs with a map of the territory are everywhere; also free Wi-Fi and toilets are provided.

An unnamed grotto, artificially made from a savage stone in the 1890s, was reconstructed into a fountain called the “Grotto of Diana”.
Initially the grotto was a drainage system that drained water from a nearby fountain.
Since 2017 the renewed Grotto of Diana is the main attraction of the Istanbul park. Near the fountain photos are continuously being taken. Visitors wait patiently for their turn to take a picture and throw a coin into the fountain.

In the lower part of the Istanbul Park there are several playgrounds with various swings and slides for children.