Japanese Garden of Szentendre
Segment: Japanese Garden of Szentendre
Episode: Autumn 2020, Ep 4
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
TX Date: 14th March 2020
Just an hour from Budapest, Szentendre is a beautiful historic known that features an incredible Japanese garden.
- The garden lies just a 10-minute walk down the Danube River from the city centre, and is a tranquil oasis of maple, cherry blossoms and water gardens.
- The garden was built and designed by Zontan Dani, an economist and garden designer. He has a great passion for gardens, studying gardens across Japan and China, including in Kyoto. He’s the only qualified landscaper of his kind in Eastern Europe.
- This garden opened just 3 years ago, and is still a work in progress – Zoltan believes it will take another 13 years to reach its full potential, but it is already stunning.
- A Japanese garden is like a three-dimensional painting; the setting of each rock and tree has to be aesthetically perfect. The main goal is to create a painting in nature that changes with the season.
- A Japanese garden recreates nature, with rocks representing mountains. There is a great sense of metaphor throughout the garden.
- The garden is based on the idea of 4 different seasons. Spring is for sakura trees, summer for water release, autumn features the maple trees, and winter features pine trees.
- The central feature of the garden is the beautiful teahouse pavilion. This is a great place to come and contemplate nature’s beauty, and the clever design means the garden looks incredible when viewed from any angle.
- There are many vantage points where the view changes, and the best spots for gazing at the garden are the strategically places benches.
- While the garden isn’t classically European, it is well worth a visit on your next trip to Szentendre, particularly on a beautiful autumn day.
