Zakozel

The Village of Zakozel in Brest

The village of Zakozel is located in the south of Brest region. The distance to Drahichyn regional center is 17 kilometers and it is 110 kilometers to Brest.

The village is known as the former estate of the noble Polish gentry’s family Ozheshko. The progenitor is Anthony Ozheshko. He received lands of Polesya as a gift fr om Sigismund II Augustus.

Zakozel was first mentioned in the 13th century, but there is no accurate or extensive information. At that date the place was a property of Josef Ozheshko. Josef’s son Nicodemus Ozheshko built a manor at this place. There is an interesting fact that the building was not constructed by the professional architects, but by the simple members of the local public. The house itself was simple, even had rough forms, but nevertheless it wasn't too ordinary.

The years passed but the tradition to grow flowers near the manor has been strongly fixed. Besides, a great deal of picturesqueness is in the lake which is located nearby.

The landmarks of Zakozel

It is necessary to pay attention to the chapel-vault situated at the territory of the manor. It was built in 1847 by the architect Frantisek Yashchold. The building is the real monument of the Neo-Gothic architecture and one of the most beautiful constructions across Belarus. The front side is decorated with two massive cast-iron shields with coats of arms of two noble families' branches on them. During exploring of the chapel archeologists found a lot of artifacts, such as interior details, fragments of statues, bronze castings and others. At present all of these findings are exhibits of the Brest regional museum of local lore.

The chapel-vault for some time was used as a Roman-Catholic church, but then it was conveyed to Orthodox Christian. By their efforts the chapel became a church, but this idea required great expenses, so everything was left intact.

At present the monument requires restoration. In the future it is planned to make a museum here.

After Kastus Kalinowski revolt Zakozel was taken away from Ozheshko. The family moved to Paris, wh ere Yulian Ozheshko died. His mother wanted to bury her son in Zakozel, but attempts to get an affirmative reply from the Russian government had no effect.

Afterwards, the estate was returned to Ozheshko's family in a while, but they didn't want to return. The village was sold. Thus, Zakozel came into possession of the countess Bobrinskaya. Under her possession there were carried out works on renovation of the house and the park, a steam dairy farm and a `brewery were built, which you can see nowadays.