Not every municipality can boast of a beautiful historical park right in the center. However, Brodzany in the Partizánske district is one of the bright exceptions. The English park there is a place of which the residents are rightly proud. It provides rest, creates space for relaxation and sports. It has surrounded the manor house, which dates back to the 17th century, for centuries. Winding paths will take you not only under the crowns of cherry trees, but also to famous writers.

Documenting the continuous development of the park in Brodzany is not easy. There is a lack of pictorial and written archival sources. The key landmark is the year 1816, when the first written mention of it appears. At that time, the Kvassays still lived here. "The park is described as a large English garden that was part of a noble residence. It was probably founded by Michal Kvassay," says Alexandra Lukáčová, head of the AS Puškina Slavic Museum, which is located in the mansion. English parks were much looser than their Baroque predecessors. At one time, the park in Brodzany naturally flowed into the surrounding nature and reached as far as the summer house of Babylon and the chapel with a tomb on Hôrka hill.

In 1846, the manor was bought by Gustáv Friesenhof, who, of course, modified the park. "During the Art Nouveau period at the end of the 19th century, flower beds were again fashionable. One of the few preserved photographs documents that such a garden once immediately surrounded the manor," adds Lukáčová.

Descendants of Gustav Friesenhof owned the Brodzian estate until the end of the Second World War. After the end of the bloody conflict, parcelling began. "There was a threat that a playground would be created here, that the territory would be divided into plots for the landless. Fortunately, that did not happen," adds Lukáčová. In the following two decades, the building fell into disrepair. A new impetus came in 1979, when a museum was established in the manor house and its surroundings were also renewed. In the 1980s, several stone and bronze sculptures of Russian and Slovak writers were added to the park. Today, part of them is missing, and in 2014, four busts were stolen. In particular, they were portraits of Mayakovsky, Dostoevsky, Gorky and Vajansky. The park currently appeals not only to Slovak but also to foreign tourists. Getting to know its nooks and crannies takes a while, because it covers an area of roughly 7 hectares. It includes water areas with cascades, a pond and wooden bridges that lead over the Gerazda stream. Frogs can be heard croaking near the stream, ducks hang out by the water. "It is the green heart of Brodzian that we all like to visit and spend time here. In the summer, it is a cool natural oasis, and in the fall, when the leaves fall, it has an inimitable atmosphere," describes local resident Gabriela Boboková.