Valkhof park

Valkhof park, located in the lower town just outside the centre on a low hill by the River Waal, is the oldest park in Nijmegen and one of the oldest city parks in the Netherlands.

It was created in the late eighteenth, early nineteenth century on and around the remains of Valkhof castle. It was designed in the English landscape style by the Haarlem-based landscape architect J.D. Zochter senior. The only remaining features of the castle still visible in the park are the Saint Nicolas chapel and the ruins of Saint Martin's chapel, also known as the Barbarossa ruins.

Valkhof park was refurbished in the 1830s and gradually became a public park with something to entertain everyone. More benches were put up and a bandstand was erected.

The Flemish garden designer Lieven Rosseels redesigned the park again in 1886 to enable it to fit in better with the urban design of 1878, with the old town surrounded by a broad belt of parks, gardens and canals.
Footpaths and steps were built on the hill towards Waalkade, which had previously been difficult to access. The bridge over the Voerweg was opened, linking Valkhof to Kelfkensbos square.