If you have one or two days off, and you don’t want to spend them captive in the hustle of the city, a perfect way out is a visit to the Radziwill family estate in village Annopol. This picturesque place is located 12 kilometers from Minsk on the road to Slutsk.

What is this place remarkable for? Annopol is famous for its amazing estate of the Radziwill magnate family. This estate dates back to the second half of the XVIII century, but, unfortunately, the estate has poorly preserved. The only thing that can be seen is the foundation of once stood residence of the noble family representative Albrecht Radziwill.

The estate was inherited by the Prince Albrecht Radziwill - a statesman in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rechitsa chief and Major General of the Lithuanian army. In 1747 he married Anna Kunegunda Khaletskaya, who later received the manor as a dowry. The couple had four children in the marriage - three daughters, Alois, Maria and Barbara and later one son Dominic. Subsequently, the estate passed into the possession of Dominic, and later to Johanna Radziwill, the widow of Alexander Radziwill, who kept the house perfectly, significantly improved and enriched the park with the unique specially grown plants and trees.

The estate park was founded by Albrecht upon Carlo Spampani project in 1780. The Annopol park total area was 4 hectares and presented an impressive style of the Dutch baroque. Unfortunately, almost no historical information about the estate has survived. However, there is still a point of interest. The estate’s eastern side was decorated with high roofed greenhouse, which was attached to the house with a special transition. The greenhouse’s glazing used different colored smalt. Therefore the pavilion itself, in addition to the flowers being there, was very beautiful and could not but attract the estate visitors attention. However, the building was destroyed in 1932.

The village Annopol, by the way, is named after Anna Khaletskaya. In the XIX century it was a most splendid estate, there was a beautiful park with wonderful flowers and rare trees. The appearance of the richest estate had significantly changed two centuries later: you can see the village back streets instead of park alleys, and the guests can only see the house’s foundation instead of the Radziwills family residence. But something is still preserved nowadays.

Not far from the store you can see three houses where workers used to live. The canal’s remains are well preserved with the shaft, which once fenced the estate in Annopole. The estate is partially preserved yet. However, in course of time, it had repeatedly been rebuilt and has almost lost its original appearance.

Despite this, the village of Annopol is of the utmost interest for the tourists. There are very scenic and spacious places, fresh air, a small river and the old-aged park alleys. This place is perfect for the rest with children and for loving couples walking.