- Place
- Kaunas City Municipality
- Region
- Kaunas
- Type
- compact urban park in Šilainiai with asphalt paths, a children's playground, outdoor exercise equipment, and a seasonal reading room
- Address
- 4 Žiemgalių Street, Šilainiai, Kaunas
- Coordinates
- 54.92387, 23.88036
- Visit duration
- 30-60 minutes for a short walk; 1-2 hours with the playground, exercise equipment, or summer reading room
- Best time
- daylight from spring to autumn; in summer, look for extra activities only after checking the seasonal reading-room and events schedule
Santarvės parkas, Šilainių parkas, Santarvė Park in Šilainiai
Where Santarvė Park is and what the coordinates identify
Santarvė Park is in Šilainiai at the official address 4 Žiemgalių Street. The Ąžuolynas Library history describes the site as bounded by Žiemgalių Street and Žemaičių plentas. It is a green space within a large housing district, not Santaka Park at the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris, and not the similarly named Santaros medical campus in Vilnius.
Coordinates 54.9238678, 23.8803646 mark the approximate centre of the park area rather than the threshold of its main entrance, a car park, or a particular piece of play equipment. Several paths enter from the surrounding residential blocks, so choose your starting point in a navigation app according to the direction from which you are arriving.
This is a compact neighbourhood park. It has no lake, large fountain, historic manor, or long interpretive trail. Its strength is convenient everyday recreation: a short walking circuit, children's play, outdoor exercise, and community activities among the Šilainiai apartment blocks.
From Šilainiai Park to Santarvė: names, dates, and two area figures
The park was designed during construction of Šilainiai's fourth microdistrict. Ąžuolynas Library records that it received the name Šilainiai Park in 1990 and was renamed Santarvė in 1998. This is a documented sequence of urban green-space names, so its history needs no invented story about an ancient sanctuary or a peace treaty signed here.
The same library source says that the boundaries were determined in 1994 and gives an area of approximately 2.5 ha. In the Kaunas Comprehensive Plan table, Santarvė Park at 4 Žiemgalių Street is listed as an approximately 3.91 ha recreational area whose extent and boundary were approved by a city-board decision in 1999.
Those figures should not be presented as one exact measurement. The dates, planning perimeters, or inclusion of peripheral green plots may differ, but the checked sources do not directly explain the discrepancy. For a visitor, the practical point is that this is a small district park whose main paths do not require half a day.
The 2018-2019 renewal reshaped the paths, planting, and play area
Public design proposals in 2017 covered reconstruction of pedestrian and cycle paths, pavements, and drainage networks. Work continued in 2018-2019, and the renewed park officially opened over the weekend of August 24-25, 2019 with an outdoor film, exercise sessions, and a community programme.
The municipality's opening report confirms a replaced lighting system, a modern children's playground, asphalt footpaths, new lawn, plants, and flower beds. Bicycle stands, benches, and litter bins were also installed. Ąžuolynas Library photographs from 2021 additionally show outdoor exercise machines distributed across different levels of the terrain.
The park's character comes from more than equipment. Straight and curving paths connect lawns, low shrub beds, young trees, and surviving mature planting. Small grassy mounds separate activities and give the compact site some relief, but they are not managed sledging pistes. No real-time audit of every exercise station, play element, or light was carried out on July 21, 2026, so never use damaged or cordoned-off equipment.
The summer reading room turns the park into a neighbourhood living room
Kaunas Vincas Kudirka Public Library opened the Santarvė Park reading room beside the main entrance on June 4, 2026. It announced a summer season lasting until the end of August, with books and newspapers to read or borrow, free internet, board and outdoor games, events, and educational activities.
The reading room is not a permanent library building open throughout the year. Its days, hours, staffing, and programme depend on the advertised season and individual events, so consult the official library calendar before making a special journey. Outside the summer programme, treat the park as an ordinary public outdoor space.
A sports and arts festival for preschool children was also advertised here in May 2026, while the 2019 opening weekend included workouts, dancing, and an outdoor film. These examples confirm the park's community role but do not mean that a stage, giant chess set, cinema screen, or organised class is available every day.
A short circuit, free access, and services that are not confirmed
A relaxed circuit of the principal areas normally takes 30-60 minutes; allow up to two hours with the playground, exercise equipment, or a reading-room activity. Reconstruction documents refer to pedestrian and cycle infrastructure, and the official city route called Discover Šilainiai includes the park on a longer bicycle itinerary. Cyclists should slow down wherever the path is shared with children and walkers.
The park is a free public space without a ticket office or controlled gates. Installed lighting is useful after dark but does not guarantee equal visibility in every corner or the operation of any service. Rain, snow, and frost can make the asphalt, play surface, and slopes slippery.
No single current official page confirms the capacity or price of a dedicated visitor car park, a permanent public toilet, or a drinking-water point. Do not assume that spaces in the surrounding apartment courtyards belong to the park. The main asphalt paths appear usable for many wheelchairs and pushchairs, but no independent audit was found covering the full journey from a stop or legal parking space, every gradient, and the accessibility of the play equipment.
