Zofiivka Park in Humansk is the finest example of park-landscape heritage in Ukraine. It was established at the end of the 18th century on the initiative of the Polish magnate Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki as a gift for his third wife Sophia and named in her honour. Over the ravine of the Kamionka River, an area of almost 180 hectares, a naturalistic composition created from water, vegetation, small architecture and sculptures stretches out. The picturesque Zofiivka park is the biggest tourist attraction in the region and has even been recognised as one of the seven wonders of Ukraine.

A gift from Szczęsny Potocki to his wife Zofia
. Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki went down in history as one of the country's greatest anti-heroes and traitors for his political choices. The heir to a great family, thanks to the inheritance received from his father, he was able to enjoy the title of the richest magnate in the Republic. His wealth and influence were immense; he owned dozens of towns and several hundred villages. In Tulczyn, he built a magnificent classicist palace surrounded by a landscape garden. It was there, after moving from Krystynopol, that he located the centre of his borderland possessions. The Tulchin garden, however, was not on a par with the establishment that was created near Humanie at the end of the 18th century.

The Zofiówka park was Szczęsny Potocki's most beautiful gift to his third wife, the Greek Sophia Glavani. Potocki's wife, enchanted by Helena Radziwiłł's Arcadia near Nieborów, which she visited in July 1795, wanted to have a similar park in the Crimea, where the couple were to buy an estate. The Crimean plans did not materialise, but the idea was realised near Humania.

Starting in 1796, the creation of a garden layout began on the land situated in the ravine of the Kamionka river. The first realisation was to lead the way to a spring on the edge of the ravine, which had long been known to the Humans. The builder of the road, decorated with flower beds, was a military and construction engineer and architect Ludwik Metzell (1764-1848), who was connected with the Potocki estate in Tulczyn, as well as with the magnate himself through family ties. He was the builder and probably to a large extent the designer of Zofiówka. Thanks to his military training, he had knowledge of surveying and plumbing, and he could probably draw ideas for the landscaping from the gardens of Italy and Germany that he had visited earlier. As we know from his letters to Zofia Potocka, he also looked for inspiration in the closer surroundings - in 1789 he visited Biała Cerkiew, where he admired the beauty of Alexandria, the Branicki family's palace park.

Description of the park establishment Zofiówka
The area on which the Zofiówka park was established was originally almost treeless, with moss-covered granite boulders piled up along the Kamionka riverbed. Metzell's task, therefore, was to reshape the existing terrain. The engineer created a well-thought-out hydrological system making appropriate use of the small amount of water the river provided. The centrepiece of the design were two large artificial ponds (Upper and Lower) connected by an underground channel, which is still used by tourist boats today. Huge stone blocks were used to create rock caves and debris pits.

Dozens of different types of park architecture have been erected in the Zofiówka area. During your walk, you can stop at one of the wooden gazebos, visit the artificial grottoes or stop at the Gathering Square created in the bend of the Lower Pond, from where there is a wonderful view of the Great Waterfall. The vegetation of Zofiówka consisted of pines, chestnut trees and Italian poplars, as well as more exotic species imported from Turkey and Egypt. Thanks to the lush and picturesquely arranged vegetation, the whole gave the impression of a naturalistic, romantic park.

The scale of the project is illustrated by the number of people who worked on it. On one day it was as many as a thousand peasants. On the other hand, the expenditure consumed a sum estimated at the time at nearly 20 million zlotys. Initially, the sculptural decoration of the garden was not particularly impressive, but over time more and more figures began to appear. Already at the end of the 1830s, visitors' accounts mention "an abundance of expensive statues". Among them are representations of deities and busts of ancient philosophers.

After the death of Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki in 1805, work at Zofiówka slowed down. The magnate's family was preoccupied with disputes over his inheritance, and Metzell left the estate for Warsaw in 1806. Sophie also lost interest in the park. Consequently, some of the plans for its arrangement were not realised, such as the construction of Szczesny's tomb in the form of a pyramid or an obelisk in honour of Sophie.

Zofiówka Park under Russian administration
In subsequent years, the park changed hands, owners, names and nationality. As early as 1808. Zofia Potocka tried to sell it to Tsar Alexander I. At that time, however, her offer met with no interest. The Tsar only visited Zofiówka in 1820 during his stay in Humań. On that occasion, a bark-covered wooden pavilion called Rustic was erected over the Lower Pond. After the death of Zofia Potocka in 1822. Zofiówka was inherited by her son Aleksander Potocki. On his initiative, monuments to Tadeusz Kościuszko and Prince Józef Poniatowski appeared in the garden. Aleksander's patriotic attitude during the November Uprising unfortunately cost him the loss of the inherited estate. The estate in Humań was confiscated and its administrator became General Count Jan Witt - interestingly, Sophie's son from her first marriage. He was ordered by Tsar Nicholas I, impressed by the beauty of the park, to employ all the gardeners who had previously worked there and to spare no expense for its upkeep. In 1836, in honour of Nicholas I's wife, Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna, the park was renamed Tsaritsa Sad. The park was then enlarged to include the western part, known as Dębinka.

From the 1830s onwards, various buildings began to be erected in the park and it gradually lost the wild, naturalistic character intended by Metzell. In 1841, the Chinese pavilion and a gazebo called the Mushroom were built. A year later, construction began on the Flora pavilion, which took the place of the Rustic pavilion. In 1844, the main entrance to the park was created with neo-Gothic pavilions. At this time, the statues of Kościuszko and Poniatowski disappeared from the park, but a bust of Tsarina Alexandra appeared. Further changes followed a visit to the park by Tsar Nicholas I in 1847. - New gate pavilions in neoclassical style were built, as well as a pavilion on the Anti-Circe island in the middle of the upper pond.

From the School of Horticulture to the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
In 1860, the park was handed over to the horticultural school transferred from Odessa to Humansk. The official name of the establishment at that time was the Humansk Garden of the Main School of Horticulture. Numerous experimental plots, an arboretum, a pomological garden and a vineyard were established in the vicinity of the Zofiówka. Probably at the end of the 19th century, a bronze sculpture of a snake gushing water from its mouth, called the Viper Fountain, was placed on a stone on the Lower Pond.

Until the revolution, Zofiówka was kept in good condition. It was not until the Soviet period that the foundation's deterioration progressed. In 1923, its name was changed to the park of the Third International. In the following years, the park was under the changing management of various institutions. In 1945, it was officially renamed the Zofiówka State Reserve. At that time, a plan was drawn up for the general revitalisation of the establishment. Its sculptural decoration was reconstructed (all the sculptures that had been in the park before the revolution were destroyed) and small architecture was renovated. An inventory of the trees and shrubs showed that only 180 species survived in the park compared to the 377 that grew there before the war. Gradually, work was done to increase the diversity of the park's plant cover and today Zofiówka boasts more than 2,000 species of trees and shrubs.

In 1955, the park came under the administration of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Its area was enlarged to almost 180 hectares. Since the independence of Ukraine, Zofiivka has had the status of an independent institution operating within the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The basis of its operation is scientific activity focused on environmental protection. In addition, it remains an important tourist attraction and a memorial to one of the largest magnate fortunes in the Republic.