Narovlya

It's the southern city of Gomel region. The district center, located 45 kilometers from the border of Belarus and Ukraine. There is Gorvatto homestead, and radioactive dust has got in here after the Chernobyl explosion. Let’s move a little bit closer to Narovlya.

Historians still have not named the exact date of the appearance of Narovlya on the Belarusian lands, but archaeologists found traces of ancient settlements during excavations carried out in the vicinity of modern Narovlya. And yet, the middle of 18th century is considered to be the day of its existence. The first mention of it refers to this period in the archival documents. Narovlya was a place on the right bank of Pripyat then. However, the history of its name is associated with another river - Narovlyanka, which flooded the whole area during the spring floods. There is another version of the "name" of the city – it’s a flat area on which it stands.

In the mid-18th century, the inhabitants of the town carried out protests against the feudal lords. Church of St. John the Divine acted at that time, which was kept in the registers of births in 1772.

In 1793, after the second partition of Poland, Narovlya became a part of the territories of the Russian Empire. The town was a part of the state as the parish center of Rechitsa district of Minsk province. About 1000 people lived in Narovlya by the end of the 19th century; the village population studied at school, the church was open. Sugar was produced in the 13th year of the 20th century there, in the factory. In 1919, during the RFSR, it went into the possession of Gomel region. It became a part of the newly created BSSR after another 5 years, as a center of Mozyr District.

German troops entered the city almost immediately after the war, urban village Narovlya was occupied by the enemy army in August 1941. The occupation lasted until 1943.

Narovlya is a regional center of Gomel region from 1954 to the present day. The city status was obtained in 1971.

Narovlya received a significant share of radiation after the explosion in the Ukrainian Chernobyl. Some residents of the town were relocated to the "clean" settlements. In general, decontamination was performed in Narovlya – buildings, water, food, etc. were cleared from radioactive substances. A memorial as remembrance of resettled villages was built in the city.

Narovlya manor of the Gorvattovs

Landowners named the Gorvatovs bought Narovlya with several villages and the farm in 1816. In mid-century, the new owners began to build a manor house, later - a palace and park on 8 acres. Fountains, an orangery and a rose garden stretched on the estate. Grand stables, a chapel and a guard house were built. There was also construction for household purposes not far away.

The architecture of the palace was sustained in the classical tradition. The internal decoration and layout also met all the requirements of the fashion of that time. There was a library, having several thousand books of 18-19 centuries, opening onto a terrace Library. It also had a ballroom, "red" and "blue" salons for the reception - the aristocratic nobility, a separate room for the Museum of Nature. There were wood floors with an individual pattern for each room and elegant fireplaces. Many family portraits were on the walls and a variety of poetic inscriptions.

The Gorvatovs left the estate by the 1970s. The works to improve the appearance of the palace were carried out there at the beginning of the 20th century, but it was over after the October Revolution. There was a school several times, but the education of children was stopped after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, No one has taken the estate up since then, and now it looks like a pile of rubble.

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