Jordan Park

Jordan Park, also known as Jordan's Garden or Park Jordana, was established in 1889 as the first public playground in Kraków, Poland, and the first of its kind in Europe. It was equipped with exercise fixtures modeled after those of similar playgrounds in the United States. The park is located in Kraków’s Błonia (municipal grasslands that had previously served as cattle pasture).HistoryThe original Jordan Park included a swimming pool, 12 playing and soccer fields, as well as numerous running and exercise tracks. Facilities were added for indoor activities in 1906, in case of bad weather. The park was also equipped with locker rooms and showers. On top of that, a free meal service was established for the children.Jordan Park was Dr. Henryk Jordan's biggest achievement, brought to completion with the help from the director of Kraków City Parks, Bolesław Malecki.The concept of Jordan’s Gardens became very popular throughout interwar Poland. Similar gardens were opened in Warsaw, Płock, Kalisz and Lublin. In 1928 the Society of Jordan’s Gardens was established to oversee the building of all recreational facilities in the country.ConceptThe most innovative aspect of Jordan's idea of public parks was perhaps the change in public's perception: stressing the importance of physical education and making people realize that physical exercise is equally important to intellectual development of children, while shaping their personality.