page_title: Szwederowo district, Bydgoszcz
section_title: Greenery
hierarchical_section_title: Szwederowo district, Bydgoszcz / Chief distinctive elements / Greenery
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Park Dolina Pięciu Stawów w Bydgoszczy
context_page_description: Szwederowo is a district of the city of Bydgoszcz, located on its southern territory. Szwederowo population is the second largest of all Bydgoszcz districts.
context_section_description: Szwederowo district started to develop green domains in the 1830s, with the initiative in 1832 of Carl von Wissmann, then president of the administrative region of Bromberg. In 1900, a water tower was built there, offering an extensive panorama from the top viewing terrace was arranged. In 1920, the park received the name of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, who led the capture of Bydgoszcz during the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794.
  This park was extended to the east in the 19th century with the creation of the Aleja Górska, built between 1890 and 1940–1942.
  The other significative green area in Szwederowo is the so-called Five ponds valley (Polish: Dolina Pięciu Stawów w Bydgoszczy). 
  A watercourse ran there in the Middle Ages and ponds were used for economic and agricultural purposes. In 1523, Bydgoszcz set up its first waterworks, using Brda river flow near Mill Island: a few decades later, this network had to be rebuilt. In 1541, municipal authorities commissionned master Walentem from Bochnia to carry out the construction of a new city waterworks, drinking water intake, with the reservation that water could not be drawn from the Brda river. The engineer used the ponds on the southern hills (then outside of the city) as tanks from which originated by gravity the new water network. Operating 3 metres (9.8 ft) to 5 metres (16 ft) long wooden pipes made from hollow oak trunks linked with metal joints, the grid ran along the following paths: Szubińska street, Poznański square, Poznańska street and Długa street, ending at Zbożowy Rynek (English: Grain market).
  The pipe network reached breweries throughout the city, supplying water to public wells and even to some houses. This wooden ensemble lasted about 250 years: at the end of the 18th century, although renovation works started, the waterworks was decommissioned in the 19th century, as the system could not cope with the needs of the growing population.
  On this very spot, one can observe today five small water reservoirs, surrounded by streets Piękna, Orla, Stroma and Szubińska. In 2000, negotiations for the construction of a DIY Castorama supermarket in the area specified a proviso related to the funding of a city park close by. Works, completed by 2003, included dredging out 3 ponds and their surroundings (walking paths, shrubbery, hornbeams, maples). In 2007 and 2008, two additional ponds have been created near Orla street. With these additions, the ensemble matches the original 1900s lay out of the greenery.
  Since 2003, two housing estates have been erected around the Five ponds valley: Nad Doliną (English: In the Valley) and Perłowa Dolina (English: Valley of the pearl).
  The old soviet-time Foton tower still stands in the northern fringe of the park, waiting to be converted.
caption: View of the Five ponds valley
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