The Estate of the Chapskies in the Village Priluki

The Chapskies is a famous palatine family that constructed several wonderful residences. One of them that have preserved its original appearance is situated in the village Priluki that is 15km fr om Minsk. Such a favorable position in quite a picturesque place on the bank of the Ptich River gives an opportunity to watch the attraction upon your visit to the capital of Belarus.

The history of the village and estate

Priluki has been known since 1567 as well as the first post office in the territory of Belarus. There had been a lot of owners before the Chapskies took possession of the village. Besides, it is known that before the appearance of the palatine residence in the territory of the village there had already been a castle. It was rebuilt fr om a temple and was known thanks to legends about ghosts (one can hardly imagine a castle without some legend about lost souls wandering inside it) and due to the fact that at the time the Polish poet A. Odynets, a contemporary of well-known Adam Mitskevich, wrote about it with abandon.

The estate in the style of Neo-Gothic appeared in Priluki in 1851 when the village was in possession of Comte Oshtorp. By tradition of the time there was laid out a park in the style of Romanticism alongside with the estate. Besides, in the territory of the estate there were a hothouse with an amazing number of exotic plants, a majestic tower with a clock and a complex of outbuildings. However, the wonderful structure has not passed the fire exam – in 1868 it was burnt.

“There is in count park black pond …”

In 1872 Count Emerik Gutten-Chapsky became the owner of the estate. It is he who decided to restore the original appearance of the palace. The palace in the style of Gothic is a dominating structure in the composition of the whole complex. It presents a beautiful two-storey building with a ground floor and vaulted overlaps. Besides, the Neo-Gothic appearance is evident thanks to two decoratory towers having two-tiers. The facade was strictly outlined with risalits.

The inner decoration was not very luxurious: the floor was covered with parquet; the showrooms wh ere guests were cordially received were ornamented with moldings; in the saloon there was a furniture-set (the style of Louis XV). There was an extensive collection of several thousand books in different languages.

The territory was surrounded with a lush park divided into two equal parts with different styles. The ancient part was Italian formed later than the landscape one. There are only six ancient lime trees left from the lime walkway that at the time led from the brahma to the main entry.

The gem of the estate in Priluki was panoramic terraces descending from the palace to the river bank. Besides, at the foot of the hill wh ere the palace stood there was a pond that was called “black”. This echoes the famous song “The bride of Comte de La Fer” from the film “The Three Musketeers” …

During the Great Patriotic War the palace was almost fully destroyed. However, in 1958-59 it was restored in order to accommodate the Research Institute of Plants within the monument of architecture. Today the Institute is still in the territory of the estate thanks to which the building looks cared for.