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Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Cleveland Cultural Gardens



The Cleveland Cultural gardens, located in Cleveland, Ohio in the area known as Rockefeller Park, contain over 50 acres of gardens divided into individual gardens representing the ethnic communities of the great Cleveland area.

 

The gardens were created by students and professors of Cleveland State University.  The first garden, the British, or Shakespeare Garden, was built in 1916.  In 1926, Leo Weidenthal, editor of Jewish  Independent, had the idea to make the cultural gardens represent the city's different communities.  He wanted people of different nationalities to work together and learn about each other's culture.

  

Today there are 35 gardens.  These include Polish, Slovenian, Czech, Russian, Slovak, Italian, Greek, Lithuanian, German, Hungarian, and Hebrew gardens, amongst others.  The newest is the Croatian garden, built in 2011.

  
When I lived in Cleveland, I enjoyed visiting these gardens.  There are lots of fountains, decorative iron work and sculptures.

  The gardens are open daily from dawn to dusk.  Admission is free.

13 comments:

  1. Hi Sherry - that sounds like a fascinating garden to visit - or different gardens ... one a week. Were there any indigenous ones? I see each of the gardens depicts poets, philosophers, peacemakers, composers, scientists and others who have contributed to the cultures of the world - in their respective cultural garden. Looks to be really interesting - cheers Hilary

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  2. Now that's a cool idea for the gardens - have each section represent a country.

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    1. I thought it was a great idea, too. I like educational things like this.

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  3. Alex wrote what I was thinking.

    Hillary asked about indigenous gardens? That would be great.

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    1. Yes, the gardens feature plants, shrubs and trees that are indigenous to each country. Fortunately, they grow well in Cleveland!

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  4. sounds quite delightful and varied. Another reason to visit Cleveland. Thanks

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  5. There are still a few hundred other nations to go so they could keep on adding new gardens for a long time!
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    1. The ones that are featured have plants that can grow in Ohio's climate. They would need to build a greenhouse if they started featuring countries in a tropical environment.

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  6. Thanks for visiting! Glad you like the blog.

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