document_title: Names of the days of the week

question_text: who are the days of the week named for

question_tokens: who are the days of the week named for

text: Names of the days of the week

text: Days named after planets[edit]

text: Greco-Roman tradition[edit]

text: Between the 1st and 3rd centuries, the Roman Empire gradually replaced the eight-day Roman nundinal cycle with the seven-day week. Our earliest evidence for this new system is a Pompeiian graffito referring to the 6th February (viii idus Februarius) of the year AD 60 as dies solis ("Sunday").[1] Another early witness is a reference to a lost treatise by Plutarch, written in about AD 100, which addressed the question of Why are the days named after the planets reckoned in a different order from the actual order?.[2]

text: The days were named after the planets of Hellenistic astrology, in the order Sun, Moon, Mars (Ares), Mercury (Hermes), Jupiter (Zeus), Venus (Aphrodite) and Saturn (Cronos).[3]

text: The seven-day week spread throughout the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity. By the 4th century, it was in wide use throughout the Empire, and it had also reached India and China.

text: The Greek and Latin names are as follows:

text:
Day:
(see Irregularities)
Sunday
Sōl or Helios
(Sun)
Monday
Luna or Selene
(Moon)
Tuesday
Mars or Ares
(Mars)
Wednesday
Mercurius or Hermes
(Mercury)
Thursday
Iuppiter or Zeus
(Jupiter)
Friday
Venus or Aphrodite
(Venus)
Saturday
Saturnus or Kronos
(Saturn)

Greek
ἡμέρᾱ Ἡλίου
hēmérā Hēlíou
ἡμέρᾱ Σελήνης
hēmérā Selḗnēs
ἡμέρᾱ Ἄρεως
hēmérā Áreōs
ἡμέρᾱ Ἑρμοῦ
hēmérā Hermoû
ἡμέρᾱ Διός
hēmérā Diós
ἡμέρᾱ Ἀφροδῑ́της
hēmérā Aphrodī́tēs
ἡμέρᾱ Κρόνου
hēmérā Krónou

Latin
diēs Sōlis
diēs Lūnae
diēs Martis
diēs Mercuriī
diēs Iōvis
diēs Veneris
diēs Saturnī

text: Romance languages[edit]

text: Except for modern Portuguese, the Romance languages preserved the Latin names, except for the names of Sunday, which was replaced by [dies] Dominicus (Dominica), i.e. "Day of the Lord" and of Saturday, which was named for the Sabbath. In Corsican, the Saturday is known either by Sabatu or De Sadorn.

text:
Day:
(see Irregularities)
Sunday
Sōl (Sun)
Monday
Luna (Moon)
Tuesday
Mars (Mars)
Wednesday
Mercurius (Mercury)
Thursday
Iuppiter (Jupiter)
Friday
Venus (Venus)
Saturday
Saturnus (Saturn)

Italian
domenica [☉1]
lunedì
martedì
mercoledì
giovedì
venerdì
sabato [♄1]

Old Portuguese
domingo [☉1]
lues
martes
mércores
joves
vernes
sábado [♄1]

Galician
domingo [☉1]
luns
martes
mércores
xoves
venres
sábado [♄1]

Spanish
domingo [☉1]
lunes
martes
miércoles
jueves
viernes
sábado [♄1]

Romanian
duminică [☉1]
luni
marți
miercuri
joi
vineri
sâmbătă [♄1]

French
dimanche [☉1]
lundi
mardi
mercredi
jeudi
vendredi
samedi [♄1]

Occitan
dimenge [☉1]
diluns
dimarts
dimècres
dijòus
divendres
dissabte [♄1]

Catalan
diumenge [☉1]
dilluns
dimarts
dimecres
dijous
divendres
dissabte [♄1]

Asturian
domingu [☉1]
llunes
martes
miércoles
xueves
vienres
sábadu [♄1]

Lombard (Milanese)
domenega [☉1]
lunedì
martedì
mercoldì
giovedì
venerdì
sabet [♄1]

Lombard (Bresciano)
duminica [☉1]
lunedé
martedé
mercoldé
gioedé
venerdé
sabot [♄1]

Ligurian
doménga [☉1]
lunedì
mâtesdì
mâcordì
zéuggia
venardì
sàbbo [♄1]

Venetian
domenega [☉1]
luni
marti
mèrcore
zobia
vénare
sabo [♄1]

Friulian
domenie [☉1]
lunis
martars
miercus
joibe
vinars
sabide [♄1]

Neapolitan
dummeneca [☉1]
lunnerì
marterì
miercurì
gioverì
viernarì
sàbbatu [♄1]

Sardinian
dominiga [☉1]
lunis
martis
mercuris
iobia
chenabura
Sappadu [♄1]

Sicilian
dumínica [☉1]
luni
marti
mércuri
juvi
vénniri
sábbatu [♄1]

Corsican
dumenica
luni
marti
màrcuri
ghjovi
vènnari
sàbatu or sadorn

text: Celtic languages[edit]

text: Early Old Irish adopted the names from Latin, but introduced separate terms of Norse origin for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, then later supplanted these with terms relating to church fasting practices.

text:
Day:
(see Irregularities)
Sunday
Sōl (Sun)
Monday
Luna (Moon)
Tuesday
Mars (Mars)
Wednesday
Mercurius (Mercury)
Thursday
Iuppiter (Jupiter)
Friday
Venus (Venus)
Saturday
Saturnus (Saturn)

Old Irish[4]
Diu[5] srol
Dies scrol[6]
Diu luna[7]
Diu mart[8]
Diu iath[9]
Diu eathamon[10]
Diu triach[11]
Diu saturn

Old Irish (later)
Diu domnica
Diu luna
Diu mart
Diu cétaín [☿2]
Diu eter dib aínib [♃1]
Diu aíne [♀1]
Diu saturn

Irish
An Domhnach [☉1]
Dé Domhnaigh
An Luan
Dé Luain
An Mháirt
Dé Máirt
An Chéadaoin [☿2]
Dé Céadaoin
An Déardaoin [♃1]
Déardaoin
An Aoine [♀1]
Dé hAoine
An Satharn
Dé Sathairn

Scottish Gaelic
Di-Dòmhnaich / Didòmhnaich [☉1]
Di-Luain / Diluain
Di-Màirt / Dimàirt
Di-Ciadain / Diciadain [☿2]
Di-Ardaoin / Diardaoin [♃1]
Di-Haoine / Dihaoine [♀1]
Di-Sàthairne / Disathairne

Welsh
dydd Sul
dydd Llun
dydd Mawrth
dydd Mercher
dydd Iau
dydd Gwener
dydd Sadwrn

Cornish
Dy' Sul
Dy' Lun
Dy' Meurth
Dy' Mergher
Dy' Yow
Dy' Gwener
Dy' Sadorn

Breton
Disul
Dilun
Dimeurzh
Dimerc’her
Diriaou
Digwener
Disadorn

Manx
Jedoonee [☉1]
Jelune
Jemayrt
Jecrean [☿2]
Jerdein [♃1]
Jeheiney [♀1]
Jesarn

text: Adoptions from Romance[edit]

text: Albanian adopted the Latin terms for Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, adopted translations of the Latin terms for Sunday and Monday, and kept native terms for Thursday and Friday. Other languages adopted the week together with the Latin (Romance) names for the days of the week in the colonial period. Some constructed languages also adopted the Latin terminology.

text:
Day:
(see Irregularities)
Sunday
Sōl (Sun)
Monday
Luna (Moon)
Tuesday
Mars (Mars)
Wednesday
Mercurius (Mercury)
Thursday
Iuppiter (Jupiter)
Friday
Venus (Venus)
Saturday
Saturnus (Saturn)

Albanian
E diel
E hënë
E martë
E mërkurë
E enjte
E premte
E shtunë

Filipino
Linggó [☉1]
Domínggo in most other Philippine languages
Lúnes
Mártes
Miyérkules or Myerkules
Huwebes or colloquially Webes
Biyernes or Byernes
Sábado [♄1]

Chamorro
Damenggo
Lunes
Mattes
Metkoles
Huebes
Betnes
Sabalu

Māori[12]
[Rā Tapu] [not celestially named] (rā + tapu = "holy day")
Rāhina (rā + Māhina = day + Moon)
Rātū (rā + Tūmatauenga = day + Mars)
Rāapa (rā + Apārangi = day + Mercury)
Rāpare (rā + Pareārau = day + Jupiter)
Rāmere (rā + Mere = day + Venus)
[Rā Horoi] [not celestially named] (rā + horoi = "washing day")

Tetum
Dumingu
Segunda
Tersa
Kuarta
Kinta
Sesta
Sabadu[13]

Interlingua
Dominica [☉1]
Lunedi
Martedi
Mercuridi
Jovedi
Venerdi
Sabbato [♄1]

Ido
Sundio
Lundio
Mardio
Merkurdio
Jovdio
Venerdio
Saturdio

Esperanto
dimanĉo [☉1]
lundo
mardo
merkredo
ĵaŭdo
vendredo
sabato [♄1]

text: Germanic tradition[edit]

text: The Germanic peoples adapted the system introduced by the Romans by substituting the Germanic deities for the Roman ones (with the exception of Saturday) in a process known as interpretatio germanica. The date of the introduction of this system is not known exactly, but it must have happened later than AD 200 but before the introduction of Christianity during the 6th to 7th centuries, i.e., during the final phase or soon after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.[14] This period is later than the Common Germanic stage, but still during the phase of undifferentiated West Germanic. The names of the days of the week in North Germanic languages were not calqued from Latin directly, but taken from the West Germanic names.

text:
Sunday: Old English Sunnandæg (pronounced [ˈsunnɑndæj]), meaning "sun's day". This is a translation of the Latin phrase dies Solis. English, like most of the Germanic languages, preserves the day's association with the sun. Many other European languages, including all of the Romance languages, have changed its name to the equivalent of "the Lord's day" (based on Ecclesiastical Latin dies Dominica). In both West Germanic and North Germanic mythology, the Sun is personified as Sunna/Sól.
Monday: Old English Mōnandæg (pronounced [ˈmoːnɑndæj]), meaning "Moon's day". This is equivalent to the Latin name dies lunae. In North Germanic mythology, the Moon is personified as Máni.
Tuesday: Old English Tīwesdæg (pronounced [ˈtiːwezdæj]), meaning "Tiw's day". Tiw (Norse Týr) was a one-handed god associated with single combat and pledges in Norse mythology and also attested prominently in wider Germanic paganism. The name of the day is also related to the Latin name dies Martis, "Day of Mars".
Wednesday: Old English Wōdnesdæg (pronounced [ˈwoːdnezdæj]) meaning the day of the Germanic god Woden (known as Óðinn among the North Germanic peoples), and a prominent god of the Anglo-Saxons (and other Germanic peoples) in England until about the seventh century. It is also vaguely related to the Latin counterpart dies Mercurii, "Day of Mercury". The Icelandic Miðviku, German Mittwoch, Low German Middeweek and Finnish keskiviikko all mean mid-week.
Thursday: Old English Þūnresdæg (pronounced [ˈθuːnrezdæj]), meaning 'Þunor's day'. Þunor means thunder or its personification, the Norse god known in Modern English as Thor. Similarly Dutch donderdag, German Donnerstag ('thunder's day'), Finnish torstai, and Scandinavian Torsdag ('Thor's day'). Thor's day corresponds to Latin dies Iovis, "day of Jupiter".
Friday: Old English Frīgedæg (pronounced [ˈfriːjedæj]), meaning the day of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Fríge. The Norse name for the planet Venus was Friggjarstjarna, 'Frigg's star'. It is based on the Latin dies Veneris, "Day of Venus".
Saturday: the only day of the week to retain its Roman origin in English, named after the Roman god Saturn associated with the Titan Cronus, father of Zeus and many Olympians. Its original Anglo-Saxon rendering was Sæturnesdæg (pronounced [ˈsæturnezdæj]). In Latin, it was dies Saturni, "Day of Saturn". The Scandinavian Lørdag/Lördag deviates significantly as it has no reference to either the Norse or the Roman pantheon; it derives from old Norse laugardagr, literally "washing-day". The German Sonnabend (mainly used in northern and eastern Germany) and the Low German words Sünnavend mean "Sunday Eve", the German word Samstag (mainly used in southern and western Germany) derives from the name for Shabbat.

tag: ul

text:
Day:
(see Irregularities)
Sunday
Sunna/Sól
Monday
Mona/Máni
Tuesday
Tiw/Tyr
Wednesday
Woden/Odin
Thursday
Thunor/Thor
Friday
Frige or Freya
Saturday
Saturn

Proto-Germanic
*Sunnōniz dagaz
*Mēniniz dagaz
*Tīwas dagaz, *Þingsas dagaz [♂1]
*Wōdanas dagaz
*Þunras dagaz
*Frijjōz dagaz
*Saturnas dagaz, *Laugōz dagaz [♄2]

Old English
Sunnandæg
Mōnandæg
Tīwesdæg
Wōdnesdæg
Þunresdæg
Frīgedæg
Sæternesdæg

Old Saxon
Sunnundag
*Mānundag
*Tiuwesdag, *Thingesdag [♂1]
Wōdanesdag
*Thunaresdag
Frīadag
*Sunnunāƀand [♄3], *Satarnesdag

Old High German
Sunnûntag
Mânetag
Zîestag
Wuotanestag
Donarestag
Frîjatag
Sunnûnâband [♄3], Sambaztag [♄1]

Middle Low German
Sunnedag
Manedag
Dingesdag [♂1]
Wodenesdag
Donersdag
Vrīdag
Sunnenavend [♄3], Satersdag

German
Sonntag
Montag
Dienstag [♂1], Ziestag (Alemannic German)
Mittwoch [☿1] (older Wutenstag)
Donnerstag
Freitag
Sonnabend [♄3], Samstag [♄1]

Yiddish
Zuntik – זונטיק
Montik – מאנטיק
Dinstik – דינסטיק [♂1]
Mitvokh – מיטוואך [☿1]
Donershtik – דאנערשטיק
Fraytik – פרײַטיק
Shabbes – שבת [♄1]

Scots
Saubath[♄1], Sunday
Monanday
Tysday
Wadensday
Fuirsday
Friday
Seturday

Dutch
zondag
maandag
dinsdag [♂1]
woensdag
donderdag
vrijdag
zaterdag

Afrikaans
Sondag
Maandag
Dinsdag [♂1]
Woensdag
Donderdag
Vrydag
Saterdag

Luxembourgish
Sonndeg
Méindeg
Dënschdeg [♂1]
Mëttwoch [☿1]
Donneschdeg
Freideg
Samschdeg [♄1]

West Frisian
Snein
Moandei
Tiisdei
Woansdei
Tongersdei
Freed
Sneon [♄3], Saterdei

Low Saxon
Sünndag
Maandag
Dingsdag [♂1]
Middeweek [☿1], Goonsdag (rarely Woonsdag)
Dünnerdag
Freedag
Sünnavend [♄3], Saterdag

Old Norse
sunnudagr
mánadagr
tysdagr
óðinsdagr
þórsdagr
frjádagr
laugardagr [♄2], sunnunótt [♄3]

Faroese
sunnudagur
mánadagur
týsdagur
mikudagur [☿1], ónsdagur (Suðuroy)
hósdagur/
tórsdagur (Suðuroy)
fríggjadagur
leygardagur [♄2]

Icelandic
sunnudagur
mánudagur
þriðjudagur [♂3]
miðvikudagur [☿1]
fimmtudagur [♃3]
föstudagur [♀1]
laugardagur [♄2]

Norwegian Bokmål
søndag
mandag
tirsdag
onsdag
torsdag
fredag
lørdag [♄2]

Norwegian Nynorsk
sundag/søndag
måndag
tysdag
onsdag
torsdag
fredag
laurdag [♄2]

Danish
søndag
mandag
tirsdag
onsdag
torsdag
fredag
lørdag [♄2]

Swedish
söndag
måndag
tisdag
onsdag
torsdag
fredag
lördag [♄2]

Elfdalian
sunndag
mondag
tisdag
ųosdag
tųosdag
frjådag
lovdag

text: Adoptions from Germanic[edit]

text:
Day:
(see Irregularities)
Sunday
Sunna/Sól
Monday
Mona/Máni
Tuesday
Tiw/Tyr
Wednesday
Woden/Odin
Thursday
Thunor/Thor
Friday
Frige or Freya
Saturday
Saturn

Finnish
sunnuntai
maanantai
tiistai
keskiviikko [☿1]
torstai
perjantai
lauantai [♄2]

Estonian
pühapäev [☉2]
esmaspäev
teisipäev
kolmapäev
neljapäev
reede
laupäev [♄2]

Maori (transliteration; translation)
Wiki[☉8]; Rātapu
Mane; Rāhina
Tūrei; Rātū
Wenerei; Rāapa
Tāite; Rāpare
Paraire; Rāmere
Hāterei; Rāhoroi

text: Indian tradition[edit]

text: Hindu astrology uses the concept of days under the regency of a planet under the term vāra, the days of the week being called āditya-, soma-, maṅgala-, budha-, guru-, śukra-, and śani-vāra. śukrá is a name of Venus (regarded as a son of Bhṛgu); guru is here a title of Bṛhaspati, and hence of Jupiter; budha "Mercury" is regarded as a son of Soma, i.e. the Moon.[15] Knowledge of Greek astrology existed since about the 2nd century BC, but references to the vāra occur somewhat later, during the Gupta period (Yājñavalkya Smṛti, c. 3rd to 5th century), i.e. at roughly the same period the system was introduced in the Roman Empire.[citation needed]

text: South Asian languages[edit]

text:
Sunday
the Sun
(Aditya, Ravi)
Monday
the Moon
(Soma, Chandra, Indu)
Tuesday
Mars
(Mangala)
Wednesday
Mercury
(Budha)
Thursday
Jupiter
(Bṛhaspati, Guru)
Friday
Venus
(Shukra)
Saturday
Saturn
(Shani)

Balti
Adeed
عدید
Chamdral
چامدرال
Angaru
انگارا
Boru
بورو
Brespod
بریس پود
Shugoru
شوگ ورو
Shingsher
شنگ شےر

Bengali
রবিবার
Robibar
সোমবার
Shombar
মঙ্গলবার
Monggolbar
বুধবার
Budhbar
বৃহস্পতিবার
Brihôshpotibar
শুক্রবার
Shukrobar
শনিবার
Shonibar

Bhojpuri
एतवार
Aitwār
सोमार
Somār
मंगर
Mangar
बुध
Budh
बियफे
Bi'phey
सुक्क
Sukk
सनिच्चर
Sanichchar

Burushaski
Adit
ادیت
Chandoro
چندورؤ
Angaro
نگارو
Bodo
بوڈو
Berayspat
بیرے سپاٹ
Shukuro
شوک ورؤ
Shemshayr
شیم شےر

Chitrali
(Khowar)
Yakshambey
یک شمبے
Doshambey
دو شمبے[☽4]
Seshambey
سہ شمبے
Charshambey
چار شمبے
Pachambey
پچھمبے
Adina
آدینہ [♀3]
Shambey
شمبے

Gujarati
રવિવાર
Ravivār
સોમવાર
Somvār
મંગળવાર
Mangaḷvār
બુધવાર
Budhvār
ગુરૂવાર
Guruvār
શુક્રવાર
Shukravār
શનિવાર
Shanivār

Hindi
रविवार
Ravivār
सोमवार
Somavār
मंगलवार
Mangalavār
बुधवार
Budhavār
गुरूवार
Guruvār
शुक्रवार
Shukravār
शनिवार
Shanivār

Hindko
Atwaar
اتوار
Suwar
سؤ وار
Mungal
منگل
Bud
بدھ
Jumiraat
جمعرات
Jummah
جمعہ
Khali
خالي

Konkani
आयतार
Āytār
सोमार
Somaar
मंगळार
Mangaḷār
बुधवार
Budhavār
भीरेस्तार
Bhirestār
शुक्रार
Shukrār
शेनवार
Shenvār

Maldivian
އާދީއްތަ
Aadheettha
ހޯމަ
Homa
އަންގާރަ
Angaara
ބުދަ
Budha
ބުރާސްފަތި
Buraasfathi
ހުކުރު
Hukuru
ހޮނިހިރު
Honihiru

Marathi
रविवार
Ravivār
सोमवार
Somavār
मंगळवार
Mangaḷavār
बुधवार
Budhavār
गुरूवार
Guruvār
शुक्रवार
Shukravār
शनिवार
Shanivār

Kashmiri
Āthvār
आथु'वार اَتھ وار
Çāņdėrvār
च़'न्दु'रवार ژندر وار
Bomvār
बोमवार پم وار
Bödvār
बॅदवार برھ وار
Brêsvār
ब्रसवार برس وار
Shokụrvār / Jumāh
शो'कु'रवार شۆکٕروار
जुमाह جُمھ
Baţėvār
बटु'वार بٹ وار

Kannada
ಭಾನುವಾರ
Bhanu Vaara
ಸೋಮವಾರ
Soma Vaara
ಮಂಗಳವಾರ
Mangala Vaara
ಬುಧವಾರ
Budha Vaara
ಗುರುವಾರ
Guru Vaara
ಶುಕ್ರವಾರ
Shukra Vaara
ಶನಿವಾರ
Shani Vaara

Malayalam
ഞായര്
Nhāyar
തിങ്കള്
Tingal
ചൊവ്വ
Chovva
ബുധന്
Budhan
വ്യാഴം
Vyāzham
വെള്ളി
Velli
ശനി
Shani

Nepali
आइतवार
Aaitabar
सोमवार
Sombar
मंगलवार
Mangalbar
बुधवार
Budhabar
बिहिवार
Bihibar
शुक्रवार
Sukrabar
शनिवार
Sanibar

Pashto
Etwar
اتوار
Gul
ګل
Nehi
نهه
Shoro
شورو
Ziarat
زيارت
Jumma
جمعه
Khali
خالي

Punjabi
(Gurmukhi)
ਐਤਵਾਰ
etvār
ਸੋਮਵਾਰ
sōmvār
ਮੰਗਲਵਾਰ
mangalvār
ਬੁੱਧਵਾਰ
búdvār
ਵੀਰਵਾਰ
vīrvār
ਸ਼ੁੱਕਰਵਾਰ
shukkarvār
ਸ਼ਨਿੱਚਰਵਾਰ
shaniccharvār

Odia
ରବିବାର
Rabibār
ସୋମବାର
Sombār
ମଙ୍ଗଳବାର
Mangalbār
ବୁଧବାର
Buddhbār
ଗୁରୁବାର
Gurubār
ଶୁକ୍ରବାର
Shukrabār
ଶନିବାର
Shanibār

Sinhala
ඉරිදා
Irida
සඳුදා
Sanduda
අඟහරුවාදා
Angaharuwada
බදාදා
Badada
බ්‍රහස්පතින්දා
Brahaspathinda
සිකුරාදා
Sikurada
සෙනසුරාදා
Senasurada

Sylheti
রবিবার
Robibar
সোমবার
Shombar
মঙ্গলবার
Mongolbar
বুধবার
Budhbar
বিষুধবার
Bishudhbar
সুক্ষুরবার / জুম'আবার
Shukkurbar / Jum'abar[♀4]
শনিবার
Shonibar

Telugu
ఆదివారం
Aadi Vāram
సోమవారం
Soma Vāram
మంగళవారం
Mangala Vāram
బుధవారం
Budha Vāram
గురువారం
Bestha/Guru/Lakshmi Vāram
శుక్రవారం
Shukra Vāram
శనివారం
Shani Vāram

Tamil
ஞாயிறு
Gnyāyiru
திங்கள்
Thingal
செவ்வாய்
Chevvāi
புதன்
Budhan
வியாழன்
Viyāzhan
வெள்ளி
Velli
சனி
Sani

Sanskrit
भानुवासरम्
Bhānuvāsaram
इन्दुवासरम्
Induvāsaram
भौमवासरम्
Bhaumavāsaram
सौम्यवासरम्
Saumyavāsaram
गुरुवासरम्
Guruvāsaram
भृगुवासरम्
Bhṛguvāsaram
स्थिरवासरम्
Sthiravāsaram

Shina
Adit
ادیت
Tsunduro
تساند ورؤ
Ungaro
نگارو
Budo
بوڈو
Brespat
بیرے سپاٹ
Shukur
شوکر
Shimsher
شیم شےر

Sindhi
Aacheru
آچر
Soomaru
سومر
Angaro
انڱارو
Arbau
اربع
Kameesa
خميس
Jum'o
جمعو
Chancher
ڇنڇر

Sylheti
রবিবার
Robibar
সোমবার
Shombar
মঙ্গলবার
Mongolbar
বুধবার
Budhbar
বিশুদ্ধবার
Bishudbar
শুক্ষুরবার/জুমাবার
Shukkurbar/Jummabar
শনিবার
Shonibar

Urdu
Itwār
اتوار
Pīr
پیر [☽4]
Mangal
منگل
Bodh
بدھ
Jumārāt
جمعرات
Jummah
جمعہ[♀4]
Heftah
ہفتہ [♄6]

Western Punjabi
(Shahmukhi)
Aitwār
اتوار
Pīr
پیر
Mangal
منگل
Budh
بدھ
Jumāy-rāt
جمعرات
Jummah
جمعہ
Hafta
ہفتہ

text: Southeast Asian languages[edit]

text: The Southeast Asian tradition also uses the Hindu names of the days of the week. Hindu astrology adopted the concept of days under the regency of a planet under the term vāra, the days of the week being called āditya-, soma-, maṅgala-, budha-, guru-, śukra-, and śani-vāra. śukrá is a name of Venus (regarded as a son of Bhṛgu); guru is here a title of Bṛhaspati, and hence of Jupiter; budha "Mercury" is regarded as a son of Soma, i.e. the Moon.[16]

text:
Sunday
the Sun
(Aditya, Ravi)
Monday
the Moon
(Soma, Chandra, Indu)
Tuesday
Mars
(Mangala)
Wednesday
Mercury
(Budha)
Thursday
Jupiter
(Bṛhaspati, Guru)
Friday
Venus
(Shukra)
Saturday
Saturn
(Shani)

Burmese
တနင်္ဂနွေ[☉9]
IPA: [tənɪ́ɴ ɡənwè]
(ta.nangga.nwe)
တနင်္လာ[☽5]
IPA: [tənɪ́ɴ là]
(ta.nangla)
အင်္ဂါ
IPA: [ɪ̀ɴ ɡà]
(Angga)
ဗုဒ္ဓဟူး
IPA: [boʊʔ dəhú]
(Buddhahu)
(afternoon=new day)
ရာဟု
Rahu
ကြာသာပတေး
IPA: [tɕà ðà bədé]
(Krasapate)
သောကြာ
IPA: [θaʊʔ tɕà]
(Saukra)
စနေ
IPA: [sənè]
(Cane)

Mon
တ္ၚဲ အဒိုတ်
[ŋoa ətɜ̀t]
from Sans. āditya
တ္ၚဲ စန်
[ŋoa cɔn]
from Sans. candra
တ္ၚဲ အၚါ
[ŋoa əŋɛ̀a]
from Sans. aṅgāra
တ္ၚဲ ဗုဒ္ဓဝါ
[ŋoa pùt-həwɛ̀a]
from Sans. budhavāra
တ္ၚဲ ဗြဴဗ္တိ
[ŋoa pɹɛ̀apətɔeʔ]
from Sans. bṛhaspati
တ္ၚဲ သိုက်.
[ŋoa sak]
from Sans. śukra
တ္ၚဲ သ္ၚိ သဝ်
[ŋoa hɔeʔ sɔ]
from Sans. śani

Khmer
ថ្ងៃអាទិត្យ
[tŋaj ʔaːtɨt]
ថ្ងៃចន្ទ
[tŋaj can]
ថ្ងៃអង្គារ
[tŋaj ʔɑŋkiə]
ថ្ងៃពុធ
[tŋaj put]
ថ្ងៃព្រហស្បត្ណិ
[tŋaj prɔhoə̯h]
ថ្ងៃសុក្រ
[tŋaj sok]
ថ្ងៃសៅរ៍
[tŋaj saʋ]

Lao
ວັນອາທິດ
[wán ʔàːtʰīt]
ວັນຈັນ
[wán càn]
ວັນອັງຄານ
[wán ʔàŋkʰáːn]
ວັນພຸດ
[wán pʰūt]
ວັນພະຫັດ
[wán pʰāhát]
ວັນສຸກ
[wán súk]
ວັນເສົາ
[wán sǎu]

Cham
Adit
Thôm
Angar
But
jip
Suk
Thanưchăn

Shan
ဝၼ်းဢႃတိတ်ႉ
IPA: [wan˦ ʔaː˩ tit˥]
ဝၼ်းၸၼ်
IPA: [wan˦ tsan˩]
ဝၼ်းဢင်းၵၼ်း
IPA: [wan˦ ʔaŋ˦ kan˦]
ဝၼ်းၽုတ်ႉ
IPA: [wan˦ pʰut˥]
ဝၼ်းၽတ်း
IPA: [wan˦ pʰat˦]
ဝၼ်းသုၵ်း
IPA: [wan˦ sʰuk˦]
ဝၼ်းသဝ်
IPA: [wan˦ sʰaw˩]

Thai
วันอาทิตย์
Wan Āthit
วันจันทร์
Wan Chan
วันอังคาร
Wan Angkhān
วันพุธ
Wan Phut
วันพฤหัสบดี
Wan Phruehatsabodi
วันศุกร์
Wan Suk
วันเสาร์
Wan Sao

Javanese
Raditya
Soma
Anggara
Buda
Respati
Sukra
Tumpek

Balinese
Redite
Soma
Anggara
Buda
Wrespati
Sukra
Saniscara

text: East Asian languages[edit]

text:
Sunday
the Sun
(Aditya, Ravi)
Monday
the Moon
(Soma, Chandra, Indu)
Tuesday
Mars
(Mangala)
Wednesday
Mercury
(Budha)
Thursday
Jupiter
(Bṛhaspati, Guru)
Friday
Venus
(Shukra)
Saturday
Saturn
(Shani)

Mongolian
адъяа
ad'yaa
сумъяа
sum'yaa
ангараг
angarag
буд
bud
бархабадь
barhabad'
сугар
sugar
санчир
sanchir

text: East Asian tradition[edit]

text: The East Asian naming system for the days of the week closely parallels that of the Latin system and is ordered after the "Seven Luminaries" (七曜 qī yào), which consists of the Sun, Moon and the five planets visible to the naked eye.

text: The Chinese seem to have adopted the seven-day week from the Hellenistic system by the 4th century, although by which route is not entirely clear. It was again transmitted to China in the 8th century by Manichaeans, via the country of Kang (a Central Asian polity near Samarkand).[17] The 4th-century date, according to the Cihai encyclopedia,[year needed] is due to a reference to Fan Ning (範寧/范宁), an astrologer of the Jin Dynasty. The renewed adoption from Manichaeans in the 8th century (Tang Dynasty) is documented with the writings of the Chinese Buddhist monk Yi Jing and the Ceylonese Buddhist monk Bu Kong.

text: The Chinese transliteration of the planetary system was soon brought to Japan by the Japanese monk Kobo Daishi; surviving diaries of the Japanese statesman Fujiwara Michinaga show the seven day system in use in Heian Period Japan as early as 1007. In Japan, the seven day system was kept in use (for astrological purposes) until its promotion to a full-fledged (Western-style) calendrical basis during the Meiji era. In China, with the founding of the Republic of China in 1911, Monday through Saturday in China are now named after the luminaries implicitly with the numbers.

text:
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

Celestial Object
Sun (日)
First Star
Moon (月)
Second Star
Mars (火)
Third Star
Mercury (水)
Fourth Star
Jupiter (木)
Fifth Star
Venus (金)
Sixth Star
Saturn (土)
Seventh Star

Classical Chinese
日曜日
Rìyàorì
月曜日
Yuèyàorì
火曜日
Huǒyàorì
水曜日
Shuǐyàorì
木曜日
Mùyàorì
金曜日
Jīnyàorì
土曜日
Tǔyàorì

Japanese
日曜日
Nichiyōbi
月曜日
Getsuyōbi
火曜日
Kayōbi
水曜日
Suiyōbi
木曜日
Mokuyōbi
金曜日
Kin'yōbi
土曜日
Doyōbi

Korean
일요일
日曜日
Ilyoil
월요일
月曜日
Wolyoil
화요일
火曜日
Hwayoil
수요일
水曜日
Suyoil
목요일
木曜日
Mogyoil
금요일
金曜日
Geumyoil
토요일
土曜日
Toyoil

Mongolian
наран өдөр naraŋ ödör
саран өдөр saraŋ ödör
гал өдөр gal ödör
усан өдөр usaŋ ödör
модон өдөр modoŋ ödör
төмөр өдөр, алтан өдөр tömör ödör, altaŋ ödör
шороон өдөр shorooŋ ödör

Tibetan
གཟའ་ཉི་མ།
(gza' nyi ma)
Nyima
གཟའ་ཟླ་བ།
(gza' zla wa)
Dawa
གཟའ་མིག་དམར།
(gza' mig dmar)
Mikmar
གཟའ་ལྷག་པ།
(gza' lhak pa)
Lhakpa
གཟའ་ཕུར་བུ།
(gza' phur bu)
Purbu
གཟའ་པ་སངས།
(gza' pa sangs)
Pasang
གཟའ་སྤེན་པ།
(gza' spen ba)
Penba

text: Numbered days of the week[edit]

text: Days numbered from Sunday[edit]

text: Sunday comes first in order in calendars shown in the table below. In the Judeo-Christian or Abrahamic tradition, the first day of the week is Sunday. Biblical Sabbath (corresponding to Saturday), when God rested from six-day Creation, made the day following Sabbath the first day of the week (corresponding to Sunday). Seventh-day Sabbaths were sanctified for celebration and rest. After the week was adopted in early Christianity, Sunday remained the first day of the week, but also gradually displaced Saturday as the day of celebration and rest, being considered the Lord's Day.

text: Saint Martin of Dumio (c. 520–580), archbishop of Braga, decided not to call days by pagan gods and to use ecclesiastic terminology to designate them. While the custom of numbering the days of the week was mostly prevalent in the Eastern Church, Portuguese and Galician, due to Martin's influence, are the only Romance languages in which the names of the days come from numbers rather than planetary names.[18]

text: Icelandic is a special case within the Germanic languages, maintaining only the Sun and Moon (sunnudagur and mánudagur respectively), while dispensing with the names of the explicitly heathen gods in favour of a combination of numbered days and days whose names are linked to pious or domestic routine (föstudagur, "Fasting Day" and laugardagur, "Washing Day"). The "washing day" is also used in other North Germanic languages, but otherwise the names correspond to those of English.

text:
Day
Number From One
Sunday
Day One
Monday
Day Two
Tuesday
Day Three
Wednesday
Day Four
Thursday
Day Five
Friday
Day Six
Saturday
Day Seven

Icelandic
sunnudagur (Sun)
mánudagur (Moon)
þriðjudagur
miðvikudagur [☿1]
fimmtudagur
föstudagur [♀1]
laugardagur [♄2]

Faroese
sunnudagur
mánadagur
týsdagur
mikudagur
hósdagur
fríggjadagur
leygardagur

Hebrew
ראשון
rishon
שני
sheyni
שלישי
shlishi
רביעי
revi'i
חמישי
khamishi
שישי
shishi
שבת
Shabbat[♄1]

Ecclesiastical Latin
Dominica [☉1]
feria secunda
feria tertia
feria quarta
feria quinta
feria sexta
sabbatum [♄1]

Portuguese
domingo [☉1]
segunda-feira
terça-feira
quarta-feira
quinta-feira
sexta-feira
sábado [♄1]

Galician
domingo [☉1]
segunda feira
terza feira
terceira feira
corta feira
quarta feira
quinta feira
sexta feira
sábado [♄1]

Tetum
loron-domingu
loron-segunda
loron-tersa
loron-kuarta
loron-kinta
loron-sesta
loron-sábadu

Greek
Κυριακή
Kyriakí [☉1]
Δευτέρα
Deftéra
Τρίτη
Tríti
Τετάρτη
Tetárti
Πέμπτη
Pémpti
Παρασκευή
Paraskeví [♀2]
Σάββατο
Sávato [♄1]

Georgian
კვირა k'vira
ორშაბათი oršabati
სამშაბათი samšabati
ოთხშაბათი otxšabati
ხუთშაბათი xutšabati
პარასკევი p'arask'evi
შაბათი šabati

Armenian
Կիրակի
Kiraki [☉1]
Երկուշաբթի
Yerkushabti
Երեքշաբթի
Yerekshabti
Չորեքշաբթի
Chorekshabti
Հինգշաբթի
Hingshabti
Ուրբաթ
Urbat
Շաբաթ
Shabat [♄1]

Vietnamese
chủ nhật (chúa nhật)
(ngày) thứ hai
(ngày) thứ ba
(ngày) thứ tư
(ngày) thứ năm
(ngày) thứ sáu
(ngày) thứ bảy

Somali
Axad
Isniin
Talaado
Arbaco
Khamiis
Jimco
Sabti

Amharic
እሑድ
əhud
ሰኞ
säñño (Next)
ማክሰኞ
maksäñño
ረቡዕ, ሮብ
räbu, rob
ሐሙስ
hamus
ዓርብ
arb (Sunset)
ቅዳሜ
ḳədame (First)

Arabic
يوم) الأحد)
(yawm) al-aḥad
يوم) الإثنين)
(yawm) al-ithnayn
يوم) الثُّلَاثاء)
(yawm) ath-thulāthā’
يوم) الأَرْبعاء)
(yawm) al-’arbi‘ā’
يوم) الخَمِيس)
(yawm) al-khamīs
يوم) الجُمْعَة)
(yawm) al-jum‘ah [♀4]
يوم) السَّبْت)
(yawm) as-sabt [♄5]

Maltese
il-Ħadd
it-Tnejn
it-Tlieta
l-Erbgħa
il-Ħamis
il-Ġimgħa [♀4]
is-Sibt [♄5]

Malay
Ahad
Isnin
Selasa
Rabu
Khamis
Jumaat [♀4]
Sabtu [♄5]

Indonesian
Minggu [☉1] (Portuguese)
Ahad
Senin
Selasa
Rabu
Kamis
Jumat [♀4]
Sabtu [♄5]

Javanese
Ngahad, Ngakad,
Minggu[☉1] (Portuguese)
Senèn
Selasa
Rebo
Kemis
Jemuwah [♀4]
Setu [♄5]

Sundanese
Minggu / Minggon [☉1] (Portuguese)
Senén
Salasa
Rebo
Kemis
Jumaah [♀4]
Saptu [♄5]

Persian
یکشنبه
yekšanbe
Mehr ruz
مهرروز
دوشنبه
došanbe
Māh ruz
ماه روز
سه شنبه
sešanbe
Bahrām ruz
بهرام روز
چهارشنبه
čāhāršanbe
Tir ruz
تیر روز
پنجشنبه
panjšanbe
Hormazd ruz
هرمزد روز
آدینه or جمعه
ādine [♀3] or djome [♀4]
Nāhid ruz
ناهید روز
شنبه
šanbe
Keyvān ruz
کیوان روز

Khowar
یک شمبے
yak shambey
دو شمبے[☽4]
du shambey
سہ شمبے
sey shambey
چار شمبے
char shambey
پچھمبے
pachhambey
آدینہ[♀3]
adina
شمبے
shambey

Kurdish
Yekşem
Duşem
Sêşem
Çarşem
Pêncşem
În
Şemî

Old Turkic
birinç kün
ikinç kün
üçünç kün
törtinç kün
beşinç kün
altınç kün
yetinç kün

Turkish
Pazar [☉4]
Pazartesi [☽2]
Salı [♂4]
Çarşamba [☿4]
Perşembe [♃4]
Cuma [♀4]
Cumartesi [♄4]

Uzbek
Yakshanba
Dushanba
Seshanba
Chorshanba
Payshanba
Juma
Shanba

Navajo
Damóo/Damíigo [☉1] (Spanish)
Damóo Biiskání
Sunday has ended
Damóo dóó Naakiską́o
Sunday +2 × sunrise
Damóo dóó Tááʼ Yiką́o
Sunday +3 × sunrise
Damóo dóó Dį́į́ʼ Yiką́o
Sunday +4 × sunrise
Ndaʼiiníísh
It ends/done for the week
Yiką́o Damóo
[upon] sunrise [it is] Sunday

text: Days numbered from Monday[edit]

text: The ISO prescribes Monday as the first day of the week with ISO-8601 for software date formats.

text: The Slavic, Baltic and Uralic languages (except Finnish and partially Estonian) adopted numbering but took Monday rather than Sunday as the "first day".[19] This convention is also found in some Austronesian languages whose speakers were converted to Christianity by European missionaries.[20]

text: In Slavic languages, some of the names correspond to numerals after Sunday: compare Russian vtornik "Tuesday" and vtoroj "the following", chetverg "Thursday" and chetvertyj "the fourth", pyatnitsa "Friday" and pyatyj "the fifth"; see also the Notes.

text:
Day
Number From One
Monday
Day One
Tuesday
Day Two
Wednesday
Day Three
Thursday
Day Four
Friday
Day Five
Saturday
Day Six
Sunday
Day Seven

ISO 8601 #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Russian
понедельник
ponedel'nik [☽1]
вторник
vtornik
среда
sreda [☿1]
четверг
chetverg [♃4]
пятница
pyatnitsa [♀5]
суббота
subbota [♄1]
воскресенье
voskresen'ye [☉3]

Belarusian
панядзелак
panyadzelak [☽1]
аўторак
awtorak
серада
serada [☿1]
чацвер
chats'ver [♃4]
пятніца
pyatnitsa [♀5]
субота
subota [♄1]
нядзеля
nyadzelya [☉6]

Ukrainian
понедiлок
ponedilok [☽1]
вiвторок
vivtorok
середа
sereda [☿1]
четвер
chetver [♃4]
п'ятниця
p'yatnitsya [♀5]
субота
subota [♄1]
недiля
nedilya [☉6]

Bulgarian
понеделник
ponedelnik [☽1]
вторник
vtornik
сряда
sryada [☿1]
четвъртък
chetvărtăk [♃4]
петък
petăk [♀5]
събота
săbota [♄1]
неделя
nedelya [☉6]

Polish
poniedziałek [☽1]
wtorek
środa [☿1]
czwartek [♃4]
piątek [♀5]
sobota [♄1]
niedziela [☉6]

Kashubian
pòniedzôłk
wtórk
strzoda
czwiôrtk
piątk
sobòta
niedzela

Slovak
pondelok [☽1]
utorok
streda [☿1]
štvrtok [♃4]
piatok [♀5]
sobota [♄1]
nedeľa [☉6]

Czech
pondělí or pondělek [☽1]
úterý or úterek
středa [☿1]
čtvrtek [♃4]
pátek [♀5]
sobota [♄1]
neděle [☉6]

Slovene
ponedeljek [☽1]
torek
sreda [☿1]
četrtek [♃4]
petek [♀5]
sobota [♄1]
nedelja [☉6]

Bosnian
ponedjeljak
utorak
srijeda
četvrtak [♃4]
petak [♀5]
subota
nedjelja

Croatian
ponedjeljak [☽1]
utorak
srijeda [☿1]
četvrtak [♃4]
petak [♀5]
subota [♄1]
nedjelja [☉6]

Serbian
понедељак
ponedeljak [☽1]
уторак
utorak
среда
sreda [☿1]
четвртак
četvrtak [♃4]
петак
petak [♀5]
субота
subota [♄1]
недеља
nedelja [☉6]

Macedonian
понеделник
ponedelnik [☽1]
вторник
vtornik
среда
sreda [☿1]
четврток
chetvrtok [♃4]
петок
petok [♀5]
сабота
sabota [♄1]
недела
nedela [☉6]

Lithuanian
pirmadienis
antradienis
trečiadienis
ketvirtadienis
penktadienis [♀5]
šeštadienis
sekmadienis

Latvian
pirmdiena
otrdiena
trešdiena
ceturtdiena [♃4]
piektdiena [♀5]
sestdiena
svētdiena

Hungarian
hétfő [☽3]
kedd [♂2]
szerda [☿1] Slavic
csütörtök [♃4] Slavic
péntek [♀5] Slavic
szombat [♄1] Slavic
vasárnap [☉5]

Estonian
esmaspäev
teisipäev
kolmapäev
neljapäev
reede
laupäev
pühapäev

Mongolian
(numerical)
нэг дэх өдөр
neg dekh ödör
хоёр дахь өдөр
hoyor dahi ödör
гурав дахь өдөр
gurav dahi ödör
дөрөв дэх өдөр
döröv dekh ödör
тав дахь өдөр
tav dahi ödör
хагас сайн өдөр
hagas sayn ödör [♄7]
бүтэн сайн өдөр
büten sayn ödör [☉7]

Mongolian
(Tibetan)
даваа
davaa
мягмар
myagmar
лхагва
lhagva
пүрэв
pürev
баасан
baasan
бямба
byamba
ням
nyam

Luo
Wuok tich
Tich ariyo
Tich adek
Tich ang'uen
Tich abich
Chieng' ngeso
Juma pil

Tok Pisin (Melanesian Pidgin)
mande
tunde
trinde
fonde
fraide
sarere
sande

Apma (Vanuatu)
ren bwaleh / mande[21]
ren karu
ren katsil
ren kavet
ren kalim
lesaare
sande

text: In Standard Chinese, the week is referred to as the cycle of the stars (Chinese: 星期; pinyin: Xīngqī). The modern Chinese names for the days of the week are based on a simple numerical sequence. The word for "week" (which is literally translated to "star day") is followed by a number indicating the day: "Monday" is literally "star day one", "Tuesday" is "star day two", etc. The exception is Sunday, where rì (日), meaning "sun" or "day", is used instead of a number.[22]

text:
Day
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Standard Chinese
星期一
Xīngqīyī
星期二
Xīngqí'èr
星期三
Xīngqīsān
星期四
Xīngqīsì
星期五
Xīngqīwǔ
星期六
Xīngqīliù
星期日
Xīngqīrì

text: Days numbered from Saturday[edit]

text: In Swahili, the day begins at sunrise, unlike in the Arabic and Hebrew calendars where the day starts at sunset (therefore an offset of twelve hours), and unlike in the Western world where the day starts at midnight (therefore an offset of six hours). Saturday is therefore the first day of the week, as it is the day that includes the first night of the week in Arabic.

text: Etymologically speaking, Swahili has two "fifth" days. The words for Saturday through Wednesday contain the Bantu-derived Swahili words for "one" through "five". The word for Thursday, Alhamisi, is of Arabic origin and means "the fifth" (day). The word for Friday, Ijumaa, is also Arabic and means (day of) "gathering" for the Friday noon prayers in Islam.

text:
Day
Number from One
Saturday
Day One
Sunday
Day Two
Monday
Day Three
Tuesday
Day Four
Wednesday
Day Five
Thursday
Day Six
Friday
Day Seven

Swahili[23]
jumamosi
jumapili
jumatatu
jumanne
jumatano
alhamisi [♃2]
ijumaa [♀4]

text: Mixing of numbering and astronomy[edit]

text: In the Žejane dialect of Istro-Romanian, lur (Monday) and virer (Friday) follow the Latin convention, while utorek (Tuesday), sredu (Wednesday), and četrtok (Thursday) follow the Slavic convention.[24]

text:
Day
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Istro-Romanian, Žejane dialect
lur
utorek
sredu
četrtok
virer
simbota [♄1]
dumireca [☉1]

text: There are several systems in the different Basque dialects.[25]

text:
Day
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Standard Basque, Guipuscoan Basque
astelehena ("week-first")
asteartea ("week-between")
asteazkena ("week-last")
osteguna ("Ortzi/Sky day")
ostirala (see Ortzi)
larunbata ("fourth", "meeting of friends"), neskenegun ("girls' day")
igandea

Biscayne Basque
astelena ("week-first"), ilen ("Moon day")
martitzena ("Mars day")
eguaztena ("day last")
eguena ("day of days", "day of light")
barikua ("day without supper"), egubakotx
zapatua (compare with Spanish sábado from Sabbath)
domeka (from Latin Dominica [dies])

text: In Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino), which is mainly based on a medieval version of Spanish, the five days of Monday–Friday closely follow the Spanish names. Sunday uses the Arabic name, which is based on numbering, because a Jewish language was not likely to adapt a name based on "Lord's Day" for Sunday. As in Spanish, the Ladino name for Saturday is based on Sabbath. However, as a Jewish language—and with Saturday being the actual day of rest in the Jewish community—Ladino directly adapted the Hebrew name, Shabbat.[26]

text:
Day
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino)
Alhadh
Lunes
Martes
Miércoles
Juğeves
Viernes
Shabat [♄1]


document_title: Central Park

question_text: where is the central park in new york

question_tokens: where is the central park in new york

root

text: Central Park

text: History[edit]

text: Planning[edit]

text: Between 1821 and 1855, New York City nearly quadrupled in population. As the city expanded northward up Manhattan Island, people were drawn to the few existing open spaces, mainly cemeteries, to get away from the noise and chaotic life in the city. Since Central Park was not part of the original Commissioners' Plan of 1811, John Randel, Jr., surveyed the grounds. The only remaining surveying bolt from his survey is embedded in a rock located north of the present Dairy and the 65th Street Transverse, and south of Center Drive. The bolt marks the location where West 65th Street would have intersected Sixth Avenue.[8]

tag: p

text: New York City's need for a great public park was resounded by the famed poet and editor of the Evening Post (now the New York Post), William Cullen Bryant, as well as by the first American landscape architect, Andrew Jackson Downing, who predicted and began to publicize the city's need for a public park in 1844. A stylish place for open-air driving, similar to Paris' Bois de Boulogne or London's Hyde Park, was felt to be needed by many influential New Yorkers, and, after an abortive attempt in 1850–1851 to designate Jones's Wood, in 1853 the New York legislature settled upon a 700-acre (280 ha) area from 59th to 106th Streets for the creation of the park, at a cost of more than US$5 million for the land.[9][10][11]

text: The state appointed a Central Park Commission to oversee the development of the park, and in 1857 the commission held a landscape design contest. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux developed what came to be known as the "Greensward Plan", which was selected as the winning design. According to Olmsted, the park was "of great importance as the first real Park made in this country – a democratic development of the highest significance...", a view probably inspired by his various trips to Europe during 1850[12] (he had visited several parks during these trips and was particularly impressed by Birkenhead Park and Derby Arboretum in England).[13][14] The Greensward Plan called for some 36 bridges, all designed by Vaux, ranging from rugged spans of Manhattan schist or granite, to lacy Neo-Gothic cast iron; no two are alike. The ensemble of the formal line of the Mall's doubled allées of elms culminating at Bethesda Terrace, whose centerpiece is the Bethesda Fountain, with a composed view beyond of lake and woodland, was at the heart of the larger design. Execution of the Greensward Plan was the responsibility of a number of individuals, including Jacob Wrey Mould (architect), Ignaz Anton Pilat (master gardener), George E. Waring, Jr. (engineer), and Andrew Haswell Green (politician), in addition to Olmsted and Vaux.[9][10][11]

text: Several influences came together in the design. Landscaped cemeteries, such as Mount Auburn (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Green-Wood (Brooklyn, New York) had set examples of idyllic, naturalistic landscapes. The most influential innovations in the Central Park design were the "separate circulation" systems for pedestrians, horseback riders, and pleasure vehicles. The "crosstown" commercial traffic was entirely concealed in sunken roadways (today called "transverses"), screened with densely planted shrub belts so as to maintain a rustic ambiance.

text: Construction[edit]

text: In 1850, the land was occupied by free blacks and Irish immigrants who had purchased land, where they raised livestock, including goats and pigs, built churches and cemeteries, and had lived as a community for close to 50 years.[15] Before the construction of the park could start, the area had to be cleared of its inhabitants. Rossi states that part of the impetus to schemes such as Central Park and others was to remove what they incorrectly deemed as shanty towns and their denizens,[16] who consisted of free African Americans and English/Irish residents, most of whom were middle-class. Most lived in small villages, such as Harsenville,[17] the Piggery District,[18] or Seneca Village; or in the school and convent at Mount St. Vincent's Academy. Approximately 1,600 residents were evicted under the rule of eminent domain during 1857. Seneca Village and parts of the other communities were razed to make room for the park.[19] In addition, when the commission finally deposited its report for public examination on October 4, 1855, taxpayers learned that they would be paying $5 million just for the park land, more than three times what they had been told the completed park as a whole would cost. At the same time, the portion of the bill covered by assessing adjacent landowners – $1.7 million, or one-third of the purchase price – would be considerably less than the more optimistic of the earlier estimates.[20]

text: During the park's construction, Olmsted fought constant battles with the park commissioners, many of them also politicians. In 1860, he was forced out for the first of many times as Central Park's superintendent, and Andrew Haswell Green, the former president of New York City's Board of Education took over as the commission's chairman.[21] Despite his having relatively little experience, he managed to accelerate the construction as well as to finalize the negotiations to purchase an additional 65 acres (260,000 m2) at the north end of the park, between 106th and 110th Streets, which would be used as the "rugged" part of the park, its swampy northeast corner dredged, and reconstructed as the Harlem Meer.[22][23]

text: Between 1860 and 1873, most of the major hurdles to construction were overcome and the park was substantially completed. Construction combined the modern with the ageless: up-to-date steam-powered equipment and custom-designed wheeled tree moving machines augmented massive numbers of unskilled laborers wielding shovels. The work was extensively documented with technical drawings and photographs. During this period, more than 18,500 cubic yards (14,100 m3) of topsoil had been transported in from New Jersey, because the original soil was neither fertile nor sufficiently substantial to sustain the various trees, shrubs, and plants called for by the Greensward Plan. When the park was officially completed in 1873, more than 10 million cartloads of material had been transported out of the park, including soil and rocks, and more than four million trees, shrubs, and plants representing approximately 1,500 species were transplanted to the park. More gunpowder was used to clear the area than was used at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War.[24]

text: A proposal to have ornate, European-style entrances to the park was opposed by Olmsted and Vaux, who intended for the park's unadorned entrances to signal "that all were welcome, regardless of rank or wealth."[25] The park's commissioners assigned a name to each of the original 18 gates in 1862. The names were chosen to represent the broad diversity of New York City's trades; for example, "Mariner's Gate" for the entrance at 85th Street and Central Park West.[25] The majority of entrances did not receive an inscription, however, until a park restoration effort in 1999.[25]

text: Sheep grazed on the Sheep Meadow from the 1860s until 1934, when they were moved to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and soon thereafter moved to a farm near Otisville, New York in the Catskill Mountains.[26] It was feared they would be used for food by impoverished Depression-era New Yorkers.[27]

text: First decline and renovation[edit]

text: Following completion, the park quickly slipped into decline. One of the main reasons for this was the lack of interest from the Tammany Hall political machine, which was the largest political force in New York at the time. Around the turn of the 20th century, the park faced several new challenges. Cars were becoming commonplace, bringing with them their burden of pollution, and people's attitudes were beginning to change. No longer were parks to be used only for walks and picnics in an idyllic environment but now also for sports and similar recreation. Following the dissolution of the Central Park Commission in 1870 and Andrew Green's departure from the project, and Vaux's death in 1895, the maintenance effort gradually declined. All of this changed in 1934, when Republican Fiorello La Guardia was elected mayor of New York City and unified the five park-related departments then in existence. Robert Moses was given the task of cleaning up the park. Moses, about to become one of the most powerful men in New York City, took over what was essentially a relic, a leftover from a bygone era.[28]

text: According to historian Robert Caro:[29]

text: Lawns, unseeded, were expanses of bare earth, decorated with scraggly patches of grass and weeds, that became dust holes in dry weather and mud holes in wet... The once beautiful Mall looked like a scene of a wild party the morning after. Benches lay on their backs, their legs jabbing at the sky...

text: In a single year, Moses managed to clean up Central Park and other parks in New York City. Lawns and flowers were replanted, dead trees and bushes were replaced, walls were sandblasted, and bridges repaired. Another dramatic change was Moses's removal of the "Hoover Valley" shantytown, whose site was transformed into the 30 acres (12 ha) Great Lawn.[30] Major redesigning and construction also was carried out: for instance, the Croton Lower Reservoir was filled in so the Great Lawn could be created. The Greensward Plan's purpose of creating an idyllic landscape was combined with Moses' vision of a park to be used for recreational purposes: 19 playgrounds, 12 ball fields, and handball courts were constructed. Moses also managed to secure funds from the New Deal program, as well as donations from the public.[31]

text:
Lower end of mall in 1901

Play media

Skating in Central Park, a movie by Frank S. Armitage, American Mutoscope and Biograph, 1900. Collection of EYE Film Institute Netherlands.

Brooklyn Museum collection: "Early Spring Afternoon – Central Park" (1911) by Willard Leroy Metcalf

Belvedere Castle, Central Park, built 1869

text: The "Events Era" and second decline[edit]

text: The 1960s marked the beginning of an "Events Era" in Central Park that reflected the widespread cultural and political trends of the period. The Public Theater's annual Shakespeare in the Park festival was settled in the Delacorte Theater (1961), and summer performances were instituted on the Sheep Meadow, and then on the Great Lawn by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera. During the late 1960s the park became the venue for rallies and cultural events such as the "Love-ins" and "Be-Ins" of the period. Increasingly through the 1970s, the park became a venue for events of unprecedented scale, including rallies, demonstrations, festivals, and concerts.

text: In the warm months of mid-1966, two-term mayor of New York (1966–73) John V. Lindsay, himself an avid cyclist, initiated a weekend ban on automobiles in Central Park for the enjoyment of cyclists and public alike – a policy that continues.[32]

text: Despite the increasing numbers of visitors to the park, Robert Moses' departure in 1960 marked the beginning of a 20-year period of decline in its management. The city was experiencing economic and social changes, with some residents leaving the city and moving to the suburbs in the wake of increased crime. The Parks Department, suffering from budget cuts, responded by opening the park to any and all activities that would bring people into it, without adequate oversight and maintenance follow-up. Some of these events nevertheless became milestones in the social history of the park and in the cultural history of the city.[33]

text: By the mid-1970s, however, managerial neglect was taking a toll on the park's condition. "Years of poor management and inadequate maintenance had turned a masterpiece of landscape architecture into a virtual dustbowl by day and a danger zone by night", in the opinion of Douglas Blonsky, a president of the Central Park Conservancy.[34] Vandalism, territorial use (e.g. a pick-up game of softball or association football, which commandeered open space and excluded others), and illicit activities were taking place in the park. Several volunteer citizen groups emerged, intent upon reclaiming the park by fundraising and organizing volunteer initiatives. One of these groups, the Central Park Community Fund, commissioned a study of the park's management. The study's conclusion was bi-linear; it called for establishment of a single position within the New York City Parks Department, responsible for overseeing both the planning and management of Central Park, as well as a board of guardians to provide citizen oversight.[33]

text: In 1979, Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis established the Office of Central Park Administrator, appointing to the position the executive director of another citizen organization, the Central Park Task Force.[33] The Central Park Conservancy was founded the following year, to support the office and initiatives of the administrator, and to provide consistent leadership through a self-perpetuating, citizen-based board that also would include as ex-officio trustees, the Parks Commissioner, the Central Park Administrator, and mayoral appointees.[33]

text: Restoration and second renovation[edit]

text: Under the leadership of the Central Park Conservancy, the park's reclamation began with modest, but highly significant first steps, addressing needs that could not be met within the existing structure and resources of the parks department. Interns were hired, and a small restoration staff to reconstruct and repair unique rustic features, undertaking horticultural projects, and removing graffiti under the broken windows theory;[33] currently the state of the park has improved, according to Conservancy president Douglas Blonsky:

text: Graffiti doesn't last 24 hours in Central Park; visible litter gets carted off by 9 each morning and throughout the day. Our workers empty trash receptacles daily (at least) and maintain lawns with tremendous care. Broken benches and playground equipment get fixed on the spot.[34]

text: 1980s–90s renovations[edit]

text: By 1980, the Conservancy was also engaged in design efforts and long-term restoration planning, using both its own staff and external consultants. It provided the impetus and leadership for several early restoration projects funded by the city, preparing a comprehensive plan for rebuilding the park. The restoration was accompanied by a crucial restructuring of management, whereby the park was subdivided into zones, to each of which a supervisor was designated, responsible for maintaining restored areas. That year, the Dairy (which was originally designed as a refreshment stand and rest spot) was transformed into the park's first visitors center, with the Conservancy using it to revitalize public interest in the park through exhibits, music series and children's programs. The first landscape to be restored was the Sheep Meadow, primarily with funds provided by New York State. The next few years would see the restoration of Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, Belvedere Castle, the East Green, and Cherry Hill plaza.

text: First, Bethesda Fountain, which had been dry for decades, was restored in 1980–81[35] and the Terrace was restored a year later, its stonework disassembled, cleaned, deteriorated surfaces removed, restored and patched and reset. Resodding, and fifty new trees, 3,500 shrubs and 3,000 ground cover plants specified by Philip Winslow followed in 1986,[36] most of which, having matured into dense blocks, were removed in 2008, to make way for plants native to the United States; meanwhile, the Minton encaustic tiles of the ceiling of the arcade between the flanking stairs, designed by Mould,[37] were removed in 1987, cleaned, restored, completed with additional new tiles and reinstalled in 2007.[38] Around the same time, the Belvedere Castle, which had been closed for many years, was renovated and then reopened on May 1, 1983, as the Henry Luce Nature Observatory. Cherry Hill, however, did not get fully restored until 1998.

text: By the following year, the Chess & Checkers House and Frisbee Hill had been restored; thousands of shrubs and flowers asserted the park as a horticultural showpiece. To tend to those plants, more than 1,900 volunteers contributed more than 4,000 hours of work in the park. On completion of the planning stage in 1985, the conservancy launched its first capital campaign, assuming increasing responsibility for funding the park's restoration, and full responsibility for designing, bidding, and supervising all capital projects in the park.[33] The Conservancy launched its first fundraising campaign in 1986, mapping out a 15-year restoration plan that sought to remain true to the original design by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Over the next several years, Campaign for the Central Park Conservancy restored landmarks in the southern part of the park – Grand Army Plaza,[39] Shakespeare Garden, and Cedar Hill. By 1988, Conservancy volunteers logged more than 13,000 hours in the park, with the organization's volunteer program winning a citation for excellence from the White House.

text: In the early 1990s, the Conservancy announced a $50 million Capital Campaign to focus on improvements to the northern end of the park. Efforts culminated in the restoration of the Mall and Concert Ground, Harlem Meer, and the Ravine in the North Woods. The Conservancy's work on the Meer and the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center was subsequently honored with three awards: the 1994 New York City Landmarks Preservation Award, the American Society of Landscape Architects' Design Merit Award and the Victorian Society's Citation of Merit. In 1996, the Conservancy embarked on its single most ambitious landscape restoration: the overhaul of the 55 acres (22 hectares) including and surrounding the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond (formerly the Great Lawn and the Belvedere Lake).[40] The project was the centerpiece of the Conservancy's three-year Wonder of New York Campaign, which raised $71.5 million and also helped restore southern and westside landscapes, as well as the North Meadow. The Great Lawn project was completed in 1997, featuring new amenities to encourage both passive and active recreation and nature appreciation.

text: Citywide budget cuts in the early 1990s, however, resulted in attrition of the park's routine maintenance staff, and the conservancy began hiring staff to replace these workers. Management of the restored landscapes by the conservancy's "zone gardeners" proved so successful that core maintenance and operations staff were reorganized in 1996. The zone-based system of management was implemented throughout the park, which was divided into 49 zones. Consequently, every zone of the park has a specific individual accountable for its day-to-day maintenance. Zone gardeners supervise volunteers assigned to them; these volunteers commit to a consistent work schedule and are supported by specialized crews in areas of maintenance requiring specific expertise or equipment, or more effectively conducted on a park-wide basis. In 2007, there were 3,000 volunteers compared to just under 250 paid workers in the park.[33][34]

text: 2000s renovations[edit]

text: Renovations continued through the early 2000s. The Conservatory Water opened after a six-month restoration effort, with a $4 million project beginning on the 59th Street Pond, one of the park's most visible and heavily used landscapes. A new Reservoir fence was installed in 2003 under a $2 million capital project that replaced the old chain-link fence with a replica of the 8,000-foot steel and cast-iron one that had enclosed the Reservoir in 1926. The new fence, along with removal of invasive trees and shrubs, restored the panoramic views of the park and Manhattan skyline.

text: Another ambitious restoration effort began in 2004, when Conservancy staff and contractors worked together to refurbish the 15,876 Minton tiles that hang on the ceiling of the Bethesda Arcade. Originally designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould, the ceiling of the Arcade is lined by 15,876 elaborately patterned encaustic tiles. Made by Minton and Company, a leading 19th-century ceramic manufacturer in England, the ceiling tiles are divided into 49 panels, each containing 324 tiles. Salt and water infiltration from the roadway above had badly damaged the tiles, leaving their backing plates so corroded they had to be removed in the 1980s. The tiles sat in storage for more than 20 years until the Conservancy received a generous private donation for their restoration. The Conservancy embarked on a $7 million restoration effort to return the Minton tiles to their original luster in 2004. A team of seven conservation technicians cleaned and repaired more than 14,000 original tiles by hand. Only three panels of replica tiles were needed to replace those that had been damaged beyond repair. For those recreations, the Conservancy decided to commission Maw and Company, Minton's successor in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The completed Bethesda Terrace Arcade was unveiled to much fanfare in March 2007. In 2006, the Conservancy completed a nine-month renovation of the Mall in a project that returned the landscape to its original character and ensured the protection of its great American Elms.

text: The Lake was the last of Central Park's bodies of water to be renovated by the Central Park Conservancy, in a project to enhance both its ecological[note 1] and scenic aspects. In the summer of 2007 the first phase of a restoration of the Lake and its shoreline plantings commenced, with replanting using native shrubs and understory trees around the northern end of the Lake, from Bank Rock Bay – a narrow cove in the northwest corner that had become a silted-up algae-covered stand of aggressively invasive Phragmites reeds – to Bow Bridge, which received replicas of its four original Italianate cast-iron vases, overspilling with annuals. In the earliest stages, invasive non-native plants like Japanese knotweed were eradicated, the slopes were regraded with added humus and protected with landscaping burlap to stabilize the slopes while root systems became established and leaf litter developed.

text: During the same time, Bank Rock Bridge, also called Cabinet Bridge, across the mouth of the cove was recreated in carved oak with cast-iron panels and pine decking, its original materials, following Vaux's original design of 1859–60.[41] The cascade, where the Gill empties into the lake, was reconstructed to approximate its dramatic original form, inspired by paintings of Asher B. Durand. Sections of the Lake were dredged of accumulated silt – topsoil that has washed off the surrounding slopes – and the island formerly in the lake, which gradually eroded below water level, was reconstructed in the summer of 2007 with rugged boulders along its shoreline, graded wetland areas and submerged planting shelves for water-loving native plants, like Pickerel weed.[42]

text: Oak Bridge, the major entrance to the Ramble from the Upper West Side, which spans Bank Rock Bay in the Lake's northwest corner, is a picturesque feature and was recreated in 2009 based off Calvert Vaux's original drawings. The bridge, built in 1860 of white oak with decorative openwork panels of cast iron, has been recreated in steel clad in ornamental cast iron facings, with a wooden deck. Restoration of further sections of the Lake's shoreline landscapes was undertaken, and the first renovated sections were opened to visitors in April 2008.[43]

text: Post-renovation[edit]

text: On October 23, 2012, hedge fund manager John A. Paulson announced a $100 million gift to the Central Park Conservancy, the largest ever monetary donation to New York City's park system.[44]

text: Since the 1960s, there has been a grassroots campaign to restore the park's loop drives to their original car-free state. Over the years, the number of car-free hours[45] has increased, though a full closure is currently resisted by the New York City Department of Transportation. Legislation was proposed in October 2014 to conduct a study to make the park car-free in summer 2015.[46] In 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the permanent closure of West and East Drives north of 72nd Street to vehicular traffic as it was proven that closing the roads did not adversely impact traffic.[47] The law was to take into effect permanently north of 72nd Street.[48]

text: Description[edit]

text: Central Park, which has been a National Historic Landmark since 1962, was designed by landscape architect and writer Frederick Law Olmsted and the English architect Calvert Vaux in 1858 after winning a design competition. They also designed Brooklyn's Prospect Park.[49][50][51] Central Park is one of the most famous sightseeing spots in New York. It is bordered on the north by Central Park North, on the south by Central Park South, on the west by Central Park West, and on the east by Fifth Avenue. Only Fifth Avenue along the park's eastern border retains its name; the other streets bordering the park (110th Street, 59th Street, and Eighth Avenue, respectively) change names while they are adjacent to the park. The park, with a perimeter of 6.1 miles (9.8 km),[52] was opened on 770 acres (3.1 km2) of city-owned land and was expanded to 843 acres (3.41 km2; 1.317 sq mi).[1][53] It is 2.5 miles (4 km) long between 59th Street (Central Park South) and 110th Street (Central Park North), and is 0.5 miles (0.8 km) wide between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West. Central Park also constitutes its own United States census tract, number 143. According to Census 2000, the park's population is eighteen people, twelve male and six female, with a median age of 38.5 years, and a household size of 2.33, over 3 households.[54] However Central Park officials have rejected the claim of anyone permanently living there.[55] The real estate value of Central Park was estimated by property appraisal firm Miller Samuel to be about $528.8 billion in December 2005.[56]

text: Central Park's size and cultural position, similar to London's Hyde Park and Munich's Englischer Garten, has served as a model for many urban parks, including San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, Tokyo's Ueno Park, and Vancouver's Stanley Park. The park, which receives approximately 35 million visitors annually,[57] is the most visited urban park in the United States.[58] It is also one of the most filmed locations in the world.[59][60]

text: The park is maintained by the Central Park Conservancy, a private, not-for-profit organization that manages the park under a contract with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation,[61] in which the president of the Conservancy is ex officio Administrator of Central Park. Today, the conservancy employs 80% of maintenance and operations staff in the park. It effectively oversees the work of both the private and public employees under the authority of the Central Park administrator (publicly appointed), who reports to the parks commissioner, conservancy's president. As of 2007[update], the conservancy had invested approximately $450 million in the restoration and management of the park; the organization presently contributes approximately 85% of Central Park's annual operating budget of over $37 million.[61] The system was functioning so well that in 2006 the conservancy created the Historic Harlem Parks initiative, providing horticultural and maintenance support and mentoring in Morningside Park, St. Nicholas Park, Jackie Robinson Park, and Marcus Garvey Park.[62]

text: The park has its own NYPD precinct, the Central Park Precinct, which employs both regular police and auxiliary officers. In 2005, safety measures held the number of crimes in the park to fewer than one hundred per year (down from approximately 1,000 in the early 1980s). The New York City Parks Enforcement Patrol also patrols Central Park. There is also an all-volunteer ambulance service, the Central Park Medical Unit, that provides free emergency medical service to patrons of Central Park and the surrounding streets. It operates a rapid-response bicycle patrol, particularly during major events such as the New York City Marathon, the 1998 Goodwill Games, and concerts in the park.

text: While planting and land form in much of the park appear natural, it is in fact almost entirely landscaped. The park contains several natural-looking lakes and ponds that have been created artificially,[note 2] extensive walking tracks, bridle paths, two ice-skating rinks (one of which is a swimming pool in July and August), the Central Park Zoo, the Central Park Conservatory Garden, a wildlife sanctuary, a large area of natural woods,[63] a 106-acre (43 ha) billion-gallon reservoir with an encircling running track, and an outdoor amphitheater, the Delacorte Theater, which hosts the Shakespeare in the Park summer festivals. Indoor attractions include Belvedere Castle with its nature center, the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre, and the historic Carousel. In addition there are seven major lawns, the "meadows",[64] and many minor grassy areas; some of them are used for informal or team sports and some set aside as quiet areas; there are a number of enclosed playgrounds for children. The 6 miles (9.7 km) of drives within the park are used by joggers, cyclists, skateboarders, and inline skaters, especially when automobile traffic is prohibited, on weekends and in the evenings after 7:00 pm.

text: Points of interest[edit]

text: Visitor attractions[edit]

text: Visitor attractions include:

text:
Arsenal
Ballplayers House
Belvedere Castle
Bethesda Terrace and Fountain
Blockhouse
Burnett Memorial Fountain
Carousel
Delacorte Theater
Diana Ross Playground
Fort Clinton
Harlem Meer and Dana Discovery Center
Lasker Rink
Mall
Marionette Theatre
McGowan's Pass
McGown's Pass Tavern
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Pug Hill
Rumsey Playfield
Tavern on the Green
Victorian Gardens
Wollman Rink
Zoo

text: Art and architecture[edit]

text: Sculptures[edit]

text: A total of 29 sculptures by sculptors such as Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Emma Stebbins, and John Quincy Adams Ward have been erected over the years, most donated by individuals or organizations. Much of the first statuary placed was of authors and poets, in an area now known as Literary Walk. Some of the sculptures are:

text:
Alice in Wonderland Margaret Delacorte Memorial (1959), a sculpture of Alice by sculptor José de Creeft, landscape architect Hideo Sasaki, and designer Ferando Texidor at the Central Park Conservatory Pond
Angel of the Waters at Bethesda Terrace by Emma Stebbins (1873), the first large public sculpture commission for an American woman
Balto (1925), a statue of Balto, the sled dog who became famous during the 1925 serum run to Nome
Duke Ellington Memorial (dedicated in 1997), by sculptor Robert Graham, near Fifth Avenue and 110th Street, in the Duke Ellington Circle
King Jagiello Monument, a bronze monument on the east end of Turtle Pond

text: Structures and exhibitions[edit]

text:
Cleopatra's Needle is a red granite obelisk. The "Cleopatra's Needle" in Central Park is one of three; there also is one in Paris and one in London, which is one of a pair with the New York obelisk. Each obelisk is approximately 68–69 feet tall and weigh about 180 tons. They originally were erected at the Temple of Ra in Heliopolis in Ancient Egypt around 1450 BC by the pharaoh Thutmose III. The hieroglyphs were inscribed about two hundred years later by pharaoh Rameses II to glorify his military victories. The obelisks were all moved during the reign of Roman emperor Augustus Caesar when Ancient Egypt was under the control of Rome. They were brought to Alexandria and erected as tribute to Julius Caesar, in front of the Caesarium, a temple originally built by Cleopatra VII of Egypt in honor of Mark Antony, thus the name "Cleopatra's Needle".[65]

There are two versions of how the Central Park Cleopatra's Needle made its way to Central Park: either it was a gift from the Khedive of Egypt, Isma'il Pasha, or it was stolen through the machinations of William H. Vanderbilt who paid the tab to have the obelisk shipped to New York and erected. The obelisk arrived in New York in July 1880; it took thirty-two horses hitched in sixteen pairs to pull the obelisk to the park. It was erected in an official ceremony on January 22, 1881.
Strawberry Fields: On October 9, 1985, on what would have been John Lennon's 45th birthday, New York City dedicated 2.5 acres (1.0 hectare) to his memory. Countries from all around the world contributed trees, and Italy donated the iconic Imagine mosaic. It has since become the sight of impromptu memorial gatherings for other notables and, in the days following the September 11, 2001 attacks, candlelight vigils were held there.
The Gates: For sixteen days in 2005 (February 12–27), Central Park was the setting for Christo and Jeanne-Claude's installation The Gates.[66] Although the project was the subject of very mixed reactions (and it took many years for Christo and Jeanne-Claude to get the necessary approvals), it was nevertheless a major, if temporary, draw for the park.[67]

text: Other[edit]

text: George Delacorte Musical Clock, a gift George T. Delacorte dedicated in 1965 that is mounted above the arcade between the Wildlife Center and the Children's Zoo in Manhattan's Central Park[68]

text: Geographic features[edit]

text: Geographic features include:

text:
Cedar Hill
Cherry Hill
Conservatory Garden
Conservatory Water
Great Lawn / Turtle Pond
Harlem Meer
Onassis Reservoir
The Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary
The Ramble and Lake
Sheep Meadow

text: Geology[edit]

text: There are four different types of bedrock in Manhattan. In Central Park, Manhattan schist and Hartland schist, which are both metamorphosed sedimentary rock, are exposed in various outcroppings. The other two types, Fordham gneiss (an older deeper layer) and Inwood marble (metamorphosed limestone which overlays the gneiss), do not surface in the park.[69] Fordham gneiss, which consists of metamorphosed igneous rocks, was formed a billion years ago, during what is known as the Grenville orogeny that occurred during the creation of an ancient super-continent. It is the oldest rock in the Canadian Shield, the most ancient part of the North American tectonic plate. Manhattan schist and Hartland schist were formed in the Iapetus Ocean during the Taconic orogeny in the Paleozoic era, about 450 million years ago. During this period the tectonic plates began to move toward each other, which resulted in the creation of the supercontinent, Pangaea.[70]

text: Cameron's Line is a fault zone that traverses Central Park on an east-west axis.[71]

text: Various glaciers have covered the area of Central Park in the past, with the most recent being the Wisconsin glacier which receded about 12,000 years ago. Evidence of past glaciers are visible throughout the park in the form of glacial erratics (large boulders dropped by the receding glacier) and north-south glacial striations visible on stone outcroppings.

text: One such outcrop is Rat Rock at 40°46′10″N 73°58′40″W / 40.769361°N 73.977655°W / 40.769361; -73.977655, named after the rats that used to swarm there at night but also known as 'Umpire Rock'.[72][73] Located near the southwest corner of the park, the outcrop is roughly circular, about 55 feet (17 m) wide and 15 feet (4.6 m) tall with different east, west, and north faces.[74] Boulderers usually congregate there, possibly as many as fifty per day, with some being regulars, and others being tourists;[73] the quality of the stone is poor and the climbs present so little challenge that it has been called "one of America's most pathetic boulders".[74] The park police formerly ticketed climbers who climbed more than a few feet up the rock, but the City Climbers Club approached the park authorities and, by working to provide safety features such as wood chips around the base, they were able to legalize climbing there.[74]

text: Lakes[edit]

text: Central Park is home to seven bodies of water, all artificial. The main lake is the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, so named since 1994.[75] Its construction lasted from 1858 to 1862. Covering an area of 42.9 hectares (106 acres) between 86th and 96th Streets, the reservoir reaches a depth of more than 40 feet (12 m) in places and contains about 1 billion US gallons (3.8 billion litres) of water.[76] The Reservoir is best known to New Yorkers for the jogging track around it. The Reservoir is by far the largest lake in Central Park, surpassing the other three artificial lakes.

text: The Ramble and Lake south of the Great Lawn covers nearly 7.3 hectares (18 acres). Built on a former swamp, it was designed by Olmsted and Vaux to accommodate boats in the summer and ice skaters in winter. The Lake was opened to skaters in December 1858, while the rest of the park was still under construction.[77] At the northern end of the park, at 110th Street, the Harlem Meer, named in honor of one of the first communities in the region, covers nearly 4.5 hectares (11 acres). A wooded area surrounded by oak, cypress, and beech trees, it was built after the completion of the southern portion of the park. Harlem Meer also allows visitors to fish, provided that they release the fish later.[78] In the southeast corner is the Pond, with an area of 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres). The Pond is located near one of the busiest entrances to Central Park, but still provides an atmosphere of calm and solitude.[79]

text: Wildlife[edit]

text: Flora[edit]

text: Central Park, home to over 25,000 trees, has a stand of 1,700 American elms, one of the largest remaining stands in the northeastern U.S., protected by their isolation from the Dutch elm disease that devastated the tree throughout its native range.

text: A partial listing of the tree species found in Central Park, both natives and exotics, includes:

text:
Acer campestre Hedge maple
Acer ginnala Amur maple
Acer palmatum Japanese maple
Acer platanoides Norway maple
Acer pseudoplatanus Sycamore maple
Acer saccharinum Silver maple
Acer saccharum Sugar maple
Aesculus glabra American buckeye
Aesculus hippocastanum Common horsechestnut
Aesculus pavia Red buckeye
Aesculus × carnea Red horschestnut
Ailanthus altissima Tree of heaven
Aralia spinosa Devil's walkingstick
Betula alleghaniensis Yellow birch
Betula lenta Black birch
Betula nigra River birch
Betula papyrifera Paper birch
Celtis occidentalis Hackberry
Cedrus atlantica glauca Blue Atlas cedar
Cornus florida Flowering dogwood
Ginkgo biloba Ginkgo
Gleditsia triacanthos Honey locust
Carpinus betulus European hornbeam
Liquidambar styraciflua Sweetgum
Liriodendron tulipifera Tulip tree
Magnolia grandiflora Southern magnolia
Pinus strobus Eastern White pine
Platanus occidentalis American sycamore
Quercus alba White oak
Quercus palustris Pin oak
Quercus rubra Red oak
Robinia pseudoacacia Black locust
Taxodium distichum Bald cypress
Tilia americana Basswood or American linden
Tilia cordata Little-leaf linden
Tsuga canadensis Canadian hemlock
Ulmus americana American elm

text: Fauna[edit]

text:
Birds:

The first official list of birds observed in Central Park was drawn up by Augustus G. Paine, Jr. Paine was an avid hobby ornithologist and, together with his friend Lewis B. Woodruff, drew up a list of birds counting 235 species. This was regarded as the first official list and was published in Forest and Stream on June 10, 1886.[80] An article in The New Yorker on August 26, 1974, calls attention to this early list.[81] Over the decades the list has been updated and changed.

The park is frequented by various migratory species of birds during their spring and fall migration on the Atlantic Flyway. Over a quarter of all the bird species found in the United States have been seen in Central Park. One of these species is the red-tailed hawk, which re-established a presence in the park when a male hawk known as Pale Male for his light coloration, nested on a building on Fifth Avenue, across the street from the park in 1991. He became a local media celebrity and a prolific breeder.

Central Park was the site of the misguided unleashing of European starlings in North America, a native of Eurasia which has become an invasive species. In April 1890, eighty birds were released by Eugene Schieffelin, and the following March another eighty; these one hundred and sixty birds are the progenitors of the flocks which now span the United States and parts of Canada.
Mammals:

Raccoon (Procyon lotor): nocturnal tree dwellers that come down to ground level to feed at night, have become extremely common in Central Park in recent years, prompting the Parks Department to post rabies warnings around certain areas.
Eastern gray squirrel, or grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to the eastern and midwestern United States.
Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus): although not commonly sighted, there are chipmunks in Central Park.
Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana): a nocturnal marsupial that rests in trees during the day and searches for food on the ground at night.

Arthropods: In 2002 a new genus and species of centipede (Nannarrup hoffmani) was discovered in Central Park. At about 0.4 inches (10 mm) long, it is one of the smallest centipedes in the world.
Beetle infestation: Since the late 1990s,[82] the Central Park Conservancy, the United States Department of Agriculture, and several city and state agencies have been fighting an infestation of the Asian long-horned beetle, which has been reported in Long Island and Manhattan, including some parts of Central Park.[83] The beetle, which likely was accidentally shipped from its native China in an untreated shipping crate, has no natural predators in the United States, and the fight to contain its infestation has been very expensive. The beetle infests trees by boring a hole in them to deposit its eggs, at which point the only way to end the infestation is to destroy the tree. Several thousand trees were infected in the city and later removed, including 2 trees that have been removed from Central Park; all trees in the park were examined for signs of the disease in 2002 and these two trees were removed at that time.[84]

text: Activities[edit]

text: Hobbies[edit]

text: A wooded section of the park, called the Ramble and Lake, is popular among birders. Many species of woodland birds, especially warblers, may be seen in the Ramble in the spring and the fall.

text: Rowboats and kayaks are rented on an hourly basis at the Loeb Boathouse, which also houses a restaurant overlooking the Lake. As early as 1922,[85] model power boating was popular on park waters.

text: Leisure tours[edit]

text: New York City has had carriage horses since they were revived in 1935.[86] The carriages have appeared in many films, and the first female horse and carriage driver, Maggie Cogan, appeared in a Universal newsreel in 1967.[87] As such, they have become a symbolic institution of the city. After the September 11 attacks, in a much-publicized event, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani went to the stables himself to ask the drivers to go back to work to help return a sense of normality.[86]

text: Some activists such as NYCLASS, as well as politicians, have questioned the ethics of this tradition.[88][89] The history of accidents involving spooked horses has come under scrutiny with recent horse deaths.[90] Protests from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and celebrities including Alec Baldwin, Alecia Beth Moore and Cheryl Hines have raised the issue's profile.[91][92] Additional media accounts have corroborated some charges, but they have also shown that the standards vary from stable to stable.[93]

text: Both activists and horse owners, who pride themselves on humane conditions, agree that part of the problem is lack of enforcement of the city code.[93] Supporters of the trade say it needs to be reformed, not shut down, and that carriage drivers deserve a raise, which the city has not authorized since 1989.[94] Paris, London, Beijing, and several U.S. cities have banned carriage horses.[95] Replacements for the carriage horses may include electric vintage cars.[96][97]

text: Pedicabs operate mostly in the southern part of the park, the same part as horse carriages.[98] Such vehicles have more recently offered visitors a more dynamic way in which to view the park; covering three to ten times the distance of a typical Central Park horse carriage ride, pedicabs have become very popular with visitors and New Yorkers alike in the last five years;[99] also, they are being eyed as another replacement for the carriage horses.

text: Sports[edit]

text: Park Drive, just over 6 miles (9.7 km) long, is heavily used by runners, joggers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and inline skaters.

text: Most weekends races take place in the park, many of which are organized by the New York Road Runners. The New York City Marathon finishes in Central Park outside Tavern on the Green. Many other professional races are run in the park, including the recent, (2008), USA Men's 8k Championships. Baseball fields are numerous, and there are also courts for volleyball, tennis, croquet and lawn bowling. The park is home to several competitive running clubs, including Central Park Track Club.

text: Central Park has two ice skating rinks, Wollman Rink and Lasker Rink; during summer, the former is the site of Victorian Gardens seasonal amusement park, and the latter converts to an outdoor swimming pool.

text: The park drives are used as the home course for the Century Road Club Association's racing series. The CRCA is a USA Cycling sanctioned amateur cycling club.[100]

text: Central Park's glaciated rock outcroppings attract climbers, especially boulderers; Manhattan's bedrock, a glaciated schist, protrudes from the ground frequently and considerably in some parts of Central Park. The two most renowned spots for boulderers are at Rock and Cat Rock; others include Dog Rock, Duck Rock, Rock N' Roll Rock, and Beaver Rock, near the south end of the park.[101]

text: Attractions[edit]

text: The current Central Park Carousel, installed in 1951, is one of the largest merry-go-rounds in the United States. The fifty-eight hand-carved horses and two chariots were made by Solomon Stein and Harry Goldstein in 1908. The carousel originally was installed in Coney Island in Brooklyn.

text: The Central Park Zoo is part of a system of four zoos and one aquarium that is managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The zoo is home to an indoor rainforest, a leafcutter ant colony, a chilled penguin house, and a polar bear pool.

text: Central Park has twenty-one playgrounds for children located throughout the park; the largest, at 3 acres (12,000 m2), is Heckscher Playground named for August Heckscher.

text: Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre is located in the Swedish Cottage. The building was originally a model schoolhouse built in Sweden. Made of native pine and cedar, it was disassembled and rebuilt in the U.S. as Sweden's exhibit for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Frederick Law Olmsted moved the cottage to its present site in 1877.

text: Restaurants[edit]

text: Central Park is home to two indoor restaurants.

text: The famed New York City restaurant Tavern on the Green is located on the park's grounds at Central Park West and West 67th Street. It was originally the sheepfold that housed the sheep that grazed Sheep Meadow, built to a design by Calvert Vaux in 1870. It became a restaurant as part of a 1934 renovation of the park under Robert Moses, New York City's Commissioner of Parks. In 1974, Warner LeRoy took over the restaurant's lease and reopened it in 1976 after $10 million in renovations including the addition of a glass-enclosed Crystal Room overlooking the restaurant's garden (one of several dining rooms), which doubled the seating capacity to 800.[102] In August 2009, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation announced that it had declined to renew the restaurant's license,[103] and a month later, the restaurant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, citing the Great Recession and the loss of the restaurant's operating license.[104] On December 31, 2009, the restaurant closed its doors in what was expected to be a permanent closure,[105] but it reopened on April 24, 2014, after a major renovation.[106]

text: The Loeb Boathouse restaurant is the other indoor restaurant in Central Park. Located at the Loeb Boathouse on The Lake, it was designed in 1874, destroyed in 1950, and rebuilt in 1954 on the East Side between 74th and 75th Streets.[107]

text: Entertainment[edit]

text: The oldest free classical music concert series in the United States, the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts – founded in 1905 – presents concerts in the park's only neo-classical building, the Naumburg Bandshell on the Concert Ground, each summer. Today, the concerts feature promising new talent and promote the professional development of young composers and conductors.

text: With the revival of the city and the park in the new century, Central Park has also given birth to other arts groups dedicated to performing in the park, notably Central Park Brass, which performs an annual concert series, and the New York Classical Theatre, which produces an annual series of plays.

text: Each summer, there are several events happening in the park. The Public Theater presents free open-air theatre productions, often starring well-known stage and screen actors. The Delacorte Theater is the summer performing venue of the New York Shakespeare Festival, where most, although not all, of the plays presented are by William Shakespeare, and the performances are generally regarded as being of high quality since its founding by Joseph Papp in 1962. The New York Philharmonic also gives an open-air concert on the Great Lawn yearly during the summer. City Parks Foundation has offered Central Park Summerstage since 1985, a series of free performances including music, dance, spoken word, and film presentations around this time of year as well, often featuring famous performers; the Summerstage facility also has non-free concerts that are branded under different names. Since 1992, local singer-songwriter David Ippolito has performed almost every summer weekend to large crowds of passers-by and regulars and has become a New York icon, often simply referred to as "That guitar man from Central Park". From 1967 until 2007, the Metropolitan Opera presented two operas in concert each year. The Fifth Avenue Mile is along the east side of the park between 80th and 60th Streets each September.[108]

text: Many popular one-time concerts have been given in the park including Barbra Streisand, 1967; The Supremes, 1970; Carole King, 1973; Bob Marley and The Wailers, 1975; America, 1979; Elton John, 1980; the Simon and Garfunkel reunion, 1981; Diana Ross, 1983; Paul Simon, 1991; Garth Brooks, 1997; Sheryl Crow, 1999; Dave Matthews Band, 2003; Bon Jovi, 2008;[note 3] and Andrea Bocelli, 2011. Central Park was the location of the largest concert ever on record when country superstar Garth Brooks performed a free concert in August 1997, to which about 980,000 had attended, according to FDNY.[109] Its attendance would have been exceeded by a concert in the summer of 1985 by Bruce Springsteen, planned to hold a free outdoor concert on the Great Lawn; however, the idea was scrapped when it was purported that any free show held by Springsteen would bring an estimated 1.3 million people, crippling the park and the nearby neighborhoods.[110]

text: Transportation[edit]

text: Public transport[edit]

text: The New York City Subway's IND Eighth Avenue Line runs along the western edge of the park, with a transfer station to the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line at Columbus Circle. In addition, the IRT Lenox Avenue Line has a station at Central Park North. From there the line curves southwest under the park, and heads west under 104th Street, and the BMT Broadway Line has a station at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street.

text: Roads[edit]

text: Central Park is surrounded by four roadways: Central Park North, Central Park South, Central Park West, and Fifth Avenue. There are four plazas, one on each corner of the park: Frederick Douglass Circle on the northwest, Duke Ellington Circle on the northeast, Columbus Circle at the southwest, and Grand Army Plaza at the southeast. There are also four transverse roadways: 65th–66th Streets, 79th–81st Streets, 86th Street, and 96th Street. The park has three roadways that travel it vertically: West, Center, and East Drives (see below).

text: Vertical drives[edit]

text: West Drive is the western of the park's three vertical "drives". The southbound-running road is described as "... concealed in sunken roadways and screened with densely planted shrub belts, creating a country-road feel in the center of the city." In the early 1900s, the drive was a popular place for carriage rides.[111] A famous painting by Gifford Beal shows a picture of West Drive depicted with a horse and buggy.[112] However, the drive is also dangerous; in 2014, a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) stretch of West Drive was considered to be "the most dangerous section of Central Park" for pedestrians, with bike crashes along the drive leaving 15 people injured.[113]

text: Center Drive (also known as the "Central Park Lower Loop"[114]) connects northbound traffic from Midtown at West Drive and Sixth Avenue near the 65th Street Transverse. The street generally goes east and then north forming the bottom part of the Central Park loop. The attractions along this street include the Victorian Gardens Amusement Park, the Central Park Carousel and the Central Park Mall.

text: East Drive, the easternmost of the three drives, connects northbound traffic from Midtown to the Upper West Side at Lenox Avenue. The street is renowned for its country scenery and free concerts. It generally straddles the east side of the park along Fifth Avenue. The drive passes by the Central Park Zoo around 63rd Street and the Metropolitan Museum of Art around the 80th to 84th Street area. The drive is also one of the legs of the New York Marathon. It is known as the "Elite Carriage Parade", because at the time of the park's opening, only 5 percent of the city was able to afford the carriage; of this, Walt Whitman said that the carriage parade was "an impressive, rich, interminable circus on a grand scale, full of action and color", a quote written by Roy Rosenzweig and Elizabeth Blackmar in The Park and the People.[115]

text: Issues[edit]

text: Central Park was once a very dangerous place, especially after dark, as measured by crime statistics. The park is considerably safer in the 21st century, though during prior periods it was the site of numerous muggings and rapes. Well-publicized incidents of sexual and confiscatory violence, such as the notorious 1989 Central Park jogger case,[116][117] dissuaded many from visiting one of Manhattan's most scenic areas. Fear was also directed to the gay community after WWII from a panic of sex crimes.[118][119] As crime has declined in the park and in the rest of New York City, many of the negative perceptions have begun to wane. Safety measures hold the number of crimes in the park to fewer than one hundred per year, down from approximately 1,000 in the early 1980s.[120] However, in 2013, the number of crimes temporarily spiked again with six rapes and six burglaries, compared to no rapes and one burglary in 2012, causing some fear according to one source.[121]

text: On June 11, 2000, following the Puerto Rican Day Parade, gangs of drunken men sexually assaulted women in the park.[122] Several arrests were made shortly after the attacks, but it was not until 2006 that a civil suit against the city for failing to provide police protection was finally settled.[123]

text: Permission to hold issue-centered rallies in Central Park, similar to the be-ins of the 1960s, has been met with increasingly stiff resistance from the city. During some 2004 protests, the organization United for Peace and Justice wanted to hold a rally on the Great Lawn during the Republican National Convention. The city denied application for a permit, stating that such a mass gathering would be harmful to the grass and that such damage would make it harder to collect private donations to maintain the park.[124] Courts upheld the refusal.[125]

text: During the 2000s and early 2010s, new towers have been constructed or planned for the southern end of Central Park. According to a Municipal Art Society report, such buildings will cast shadows over the southern end of the park. There has been a little controversy over this.[126]

text: Gallery[edit]

text:
The Lake and San Remo apartments in the background

Lower Central Park

The Mall & Literary Walk

Strawberry Fields with the Dakota behind

The Pond, looking south, with the Plaza Hotel in view

One of the park's bridges; no two are alike.[127]

Bethesda Fountain with the Loeb Boathouse in background

Passage under Bethesda Terrace

Chess and Checkers House

Aerial view of Central Park

The Mall

The buildings that line Central Park South include Essex House

Bridge in Central Park, designed by Calvert Vaux, separates pedestrians from the carriage drive.

Central Park viewed from atop the GE Building

The Pond and Central Park South

Wollman Skating Rink

Jose de Creeft, Statue of Alice, 1959

Jogging in Central Park

Central Park in snow

Vista of Great Lawn from Belvedere Castle

Bicycles

Benches

Landscape

Carriage horse

Bicyclists

Shakespeare Garden

Turtle Pond

The Ramble

Hans Christian Andersen Statue

Sheep Meadow

The Pond

Roads in Central Park

At dusk

View of Harlem Meer and Dana Discovery Center