Lychakiv Park

In mid-19^th century there was a barren in the hilly north-eastern part of Lviv beyond the rohatka (the hurdle) that marked the city’s boundary. In those times a businessman from Lviv built a mill on this hill. There were no woods on the hill at all, and it was open to all winds. The enterprising owner wanted to use this to the advantage of his windmill, but the winds crossed paths from different directions in such a way that the windmill’s wings were constantly breaking. Eventually the owner abandoned his windmill and left an empty building on the hill. After that the locals alleged that the devil settled there and was using the windmill for his diabolic purposes.

Near the year of 1984 the remains of the “diabolic” windmill were dismantled, the sand and clay quarries were filled up, the walkways winding through the slopes of wide gullies were put in order, and some trees – firs, pines and birches – were planted around the place. Thus the beautiful Lychakiv Parkemerged, and in commemoration of the “diabolic” windmill a street that ran below the park was named Vitryakova at the beginning of the 20^th century.