The skill of local carpenters and builders of the second half of the 19th century was embodied in a manor one-story house with an area of more than 300 square meters. Experts attributed the estate to the eclectic architectural style, that is, one that, at the junction of eras, absorbed elements of different architectural trends.
The fate of the manor house is typical for the entire former Western Belarus: the owners were arrested in 1939, exiled, the premises were traditionally used as a children’s institution in Soviet times. Then – oblivion, decrepitude. In the 90s of the last century – repairs, revival, even equestrian competitions in the village at the lord’s house. Distinguished guests represented by Prime Ministers M. Myasnikovich and M. Chigir. Dining room and the like of a hotel.
And here is the auction. Last year, 159 thousand rubles were requested for the estate. There were no applicants. A new auction has been scheduled for March 31 of this year, where bidding will begin with one base value.
It is not easy to express the whole gamut of feelings that this news evokes. On the one hand, the state will require the future owner to sign a safe-conduct, but practice shows that this document can actually turn out to be, pardon me, a fig leaf that cannot actually guarantee anything. To revive such monuments to a private person and make them at least pay for themselves – there are not so many such examples in our Belarus. But there are also reverses, at least the synagogue in Slonim, which was bought by a private person (writer Ilona Karavaeva). After a short time, the hostess admitted that she had not foreseen the real volume of costs: we are talking about millions of dollars, according to her. And the period for restoration, released by the state, is five years.
The story of the purchase of the Narovlya Palace by Andrei Gorvat, also a writer, is widely known. Thanks to his fame and the sympathy of Belarusians, Gorvat was able at first to collect a lot of money and accept hundreds of volunteers. But the owners have already changed their task from the revival of the castle to its conservation.
On the other hand, are there so many living monuments of architecture in our Belarus to estimate their cost in two bottles of modest quality cognac, offering them to private hands? And thereby signing in their own impotence, if not to revive, then at least to preserve not just the old squire’s house, but also, the state, the declared historical and cultural heritage?
Oleg Voronovych