Polonechka is a small village located in the north-east of Brest region, just 35 kilometers fr om the district center and 244 from Brest. Due to the fact that there are several truly ancient and well-preserved architectural monuments, it is included in many popular tourist routes.

Pages of History

For the first time, the village of Polonechka is mentioned in written sources at the beginning of the 16th century. At that time these lands were the territories owned by the Dusetsky-Rudomins family. Soon they were replaced by the Sieszkye dynasty. And only at the end of the 17th century the place was given to Marianna, the daughter of Michal Sesitsky, the governor of Mstislav. The girl married Michal Antoni Radziwill, and gave the reins of governmentfrom the Sieszkye to the Radziwills. The latter became permanent owners of the land wh ere Polonechka was located. The famous family made a lot of efforts to develop its possessions. Under Matvei Radziwill’s government Polonechka was in fact the cultural center of the region.

The construction of a stone residence on the territory of Polonechka dates back to the 18th century. As these lands were owned by a very famous, but rather poor branch of the dynasty of the Radziwills, the erection of the palace dragged on for many years. There was the time when the palace was even rented to make both ends meet.

Classicism became the dominant architectural style in the building of the estate. Although initially in the appearance of it there were the signs of baroque. Now they are also notable in the elongated composition axis. The walls of the palace were built of wide impressive stones, which were then decorated with red brick.

In architectural terms, the building erected by an Italian architect, whose name unfortunately lost, reminds the villa of Trivulzino built in Italy. There were two floors and one-story wings, which were connected with the help of galleries, formed the front yard. A wide staircase led to the palace. All the features of the exterior decoration testified that the architect in the re-planning of the manor was guided by the Palladian principles - the building should be compact, with direct galleries.

The external facade decoration signified the belonging to classicism: the center of the composition was a triangular pediment (unfortunately it hasn’t survived to our time). But now we can admire the window frames with fascia, as well as absolutely unique pillars, the tops of which were decorated with the heads of ancient Greek heroes. The palace and park complex gradually expanded, it included two parks - in English and French styles, a chapel, a greenhouse, a courtyard with outbuildings and a mill, etc.

Now the palace has survived only externally. During the Great Patriotic War, he suffered from military operations. Then the children's boarding school was placed within its walls, for the purpose of what the layout was completely changed.