Julijev Park

Julijev Park is a landscaped park in the centre of Daruvar, a small spa town in Slavonia, in eastern Croatia. It is also known as Julius’ Park, after a member of the Janković family, the noble family that founded modern Daruvar and shaped the town in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It counts among the oldest designed parks in Continental Croatia, and it makes a green setting for a town whose identity is built on thermal water.

The park began in the eighteenth century, when the Janković family laid out gardens around their new estate in the formal style of the Baroque, with straight, tree-lined walks and a clear geometric order. In the nineteenth century the planting was softened in the English landscape manner, with curving paths, informal groups of trees and open lawns, and the park today preserves the combination. Some of the trees are well over a century old, and the shade from their canopies is welcome in summer. Dozens of tree and shrub species grow here, including a number of exotic ones introduced by the landowners, so the park works as an informal arboretum too.

The history of the place goes back further than the park. Daruvar stands on the site of the Roman settlement of Aquae Balissae, a spa town built around the same warm springs, and the oldest structure in the park, Anton’s Bath, is an eighteenth-century bath house built over Roman foundations. It is a reminder that people have been using the waters here for about two thousand years. A small pond with a sculpture of a crane adds a quiet detail, and benches along the walks invite long pauses.

Julijev Park lies close to Daruvar’s spa quarter, and the setting can be combined with other places in Daruvar. The Daruvar Spa and the Aquae Balissae thermal water park are within walking distance, as is the Janković Castle, the manor that dominates the upper part of the town. Antunova Kupka and the mud baths of the spa add to the options for anyone who wants to turn a walk into a day of relaxation. Daruvar also has an old-established Czech community, which shows in the town’s food, beer and festivals, and a wander through the streets gives a sense of Slavonia’s mix of cultures.

The park is open throughout the year and can be entered at any hour. It suits walkers, families with young children and anyone who enjoys historic gardens. Spring and early autumn are the best seasons, with fresh green or turning leaves, and a stroll in the evening light is particularly pleasant.