#Українске мистецтво

[historyofart-emus]

Ivasyk-Telesyk fountain in Stryiskyi park. Lviv, Ukraine. 1964

I'm Ukrainian American and my family is from Lviv, so this is a fountain I see every time I visit family. Stryiskyi Park (Стри́йський парк, also romanized as Stryjskyj Park, sometimes also called Kilinski Park (Парк Кілінського)) in Lviv, is one of the oldest and most beautiful parks in Ukraine and eastern Europe in general. It was originally constructed in 1888, but at the time only the bottom half was used, while the top half of the park remained desolate. In 1894, the Galician General Regional Exhibition brought life to the top half of the park, including the installation of a musical fountain. This musical fountain was deconstructed in 1906, and in 1964, the Ivasik Telesik fountain was build in its place. The first photo was taken around the time of its original construction. In 2011 and 2013, it underwent heavy restoration due to years of disuse and wear. The second and third photos are my own, taken in 2019, and show the result of the restoration, though the swan heads are missing, presumably for further upkeep. In the evenings, it puts on a light and water show, with great blasts of water and many colored lights, a tribute to the musical fountain that once stood there.

Ivasik Telesik, the subject of the fountain, is a character from a Ukrainian folk tale, which tells of a boy being kidnapped either by a serpent or Baba Yaga, depending on the telling. Either way, the kidnapper is planning of eating him, but the young boy escapes with the help of a flock of swans, thus the depiction in the fountain.

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