Untermyer Park and Gardens

Walled Garden inspired by the great Indo-Persian gardens

Untermyer Park and Gardens is a historic 17-acre (XNUMX ha) city public park located in Yonkers, New York, in Westchester County, just north of New York City. The park is a remnant of Samuel J. Untermyer's "Greystone" estate. Situated on the steep terrain that rises from the east bank of the Hudson River to the bluff above it, the park features a walled garden inspired by the ancient Indo-Persian gardens, a small open-air Greek-style amphitheatre with two facing sphinxes supported by tall Ionic columns, a classical pavilion, stoa and loggias, a rock and water feature called “The Temple of Love”, as well as a long staircase from the walled garden to a lookout point overlooking the river and palisades.

The "walled garden" owes its inspiration to the great Indo-Persian gardens of antiquity. Like the ancient gardens, the Walled Garden is divided into quadrants by waterways and bordered by crenellated walls anchored by octagonal towers.
The Indo-Persian walled garden was intended to mimic a paradise on earth and thus had features inspired by religious descriptions of paradise. Biblical descriptions of Eden include four rivers (Pison, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates) and two large trees (the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil). Islam describes paradise, or Jannah, and includes similar elements: four rivers of life (water, milk, honey, and wine) and the Tree of Life. The word "Paradise" itself is derived from the Persian words "Pairi" and "Diz" meaning "Around" and "To make (a wall)," respectively. (Source: Untermyer Gardens Conservancy)

The gardens were developed beginning in 1916 by Untermyer, a prominent lawyer and civic leader, and were designed by the architect and landscape designer William W. Bosworth, with fountains of Charles Wellford Leavitt and sculptures of Paul Mannship and other artists. The gardens were regularly open to the public, hosted performances of various kinds, and were considered among the most beautiful gardens in the United States.
Owned by the City of Yonkers since 1946, the park has undergone a significant transformation since 2011 fromUnderwater Gardens Conservancy and since then, it has been renamed Untermyer Park and Gardens in honor of its founder.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. (Source: Wikipedia)