Kossovo Castle, Belarus: description, history and interesting facts

The first mention of the town of Kossovo can be found in historical sources since 1494. It would remain unknown, but once in the town settled enterprising Wojciech Puslovsky. He built a carpet factory, several churches, many made repairs, breathed life into the town, where it became convenient and money to live for all the inhabitants. His descendant, Kazimir Puslovsky, built a palace for himself, now known as Kossovo Castle.

How did the castle appear?

The famous Polish architect Frantisek Jaszhola worked on the project, his idea and development formed the basis for the castle and park project. Construction began in 1838. In the design, interior design took part architects V. Marconi and A. Zhmurk. Who of the two owners wanted to build more - it is not known, but the construction was financed by the father and son of Puslovsky. According to some legends, the place for construction was chosen not accidentally, nor was the embodied Neo-Gothic style. Opposite the residence in 1746, the leader of the Polish liberation movement, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, was born.

The Belarusian tycoon Wojciech Puslovsky was an advanced man of his time, he welcomed technical progress and was one of the first who installed steam engines in his carpet factory. Neighborhood with the house of the revolutionary was one of the advantages for the founding of his own home. As a tribute to the hero, the house where Kosciuszko was born, the count was restored. It can be visited with an excursion today.

Card debt

Kossovo Castle is sometimes called "Knight's Dream", and in its heyday there was no more beautiful castle in Belarus. Construction began in 1838, the head of the family did not live to see the end of construction, and Vandalin Puslovsky continued his business. The process lasted eight years. The owner and owner of the entire family estate became the next representative of the family - Leon. Growing up outside the Motherland, the young nobleman visited Kossovo only with raids to organize balls, masquerades and other exotic things.

His main passion was card games: once he lost a huge sum and, in order to repay the debt, he sold the Kossovsky Castle to the St. Petersburg merchant Alexandrov for a small fraction of the money - 700 thousand rubles, which covered the debt, but did not correlate with the cost of the architectural masterpiece.

The Unsighted Castle

Later, the Kossovo Castle (Belarus) repeatedly changed the owners. Alexandrov resold the brilliant mansion to Anna Trubetskoy, taking twice as much money from the sale as he paid himself. They say that the Trubetskoi family moved to a new house and did not intend to, but all valuables, the internal situation were taken out, and the house itself was closed and later sold. Then the palace was owned by Princess Obamalek, Prince of Oldenburg.

The First World War brought destruction and robbery. During this period, a garden was destroyed, where about 150 unique plants and trees grew. During the reign of Poland, the estate was given to the government and the school, where they taught beekeeping and horticulture.

The Second World War covered Kossovo Castle with horror: here were organized four ghettos, where almost all the Jewish population of the city was destroyed. Jews made up a large part of the population of Kossovo, after the liberation, the number of people in the city decreased seven-fold. Damage to the building caused a fire, which was organized by partisans. It burned ten days in a row. Together with the castle, the house-museum of Tadeusz Kosciuszko was burned, where the Germans placed their headquarters.

Architecture

Kossovo Castle has always struck its unearthly architecture. It consists of a two-story central building, to which adjoin two wings. In the design of the top portal of the building, crenellated towers are used, which makes the house look like a castle. The appearance of the building carries its own meaning - each tower corresponds to a certain month of the year. The central part included four turrets, corresponding to the most fertile months - from May to August.

It is well known that in all the castle there were 130 rooms, the layout of which was designed in such a way that in each of them the sun was delayed by two and a half days. On such days the hosts celebrated the birthday of the room. The design of each room was thought out to the smallest detail, and therefore the rooms had their own names. So, the Pink Hall was preferable for musical evenings, the Black Room was used for card games, and the White Hall for balls and gala receptions. All rooms were isolated.

One of the legends claims that there was one large hall, where the glass floor was located , and under it was an aquarium. In the entire castle, tapestries hung abundantly, they were equipped, at the whim of the owner, with fireplaces, but at the same time, steam heating was carried out, which heated the entire Kossovo castle. On the second floor there was a large tropical garden where the lion lived.

Legends

A great historical heritage is the castles of Belarus. Kossovo castle, even among the host of more ancient buildings, stands out by the number of myths and legends.

The most romantic legend tells of a large underground passage, which could be traversed by a coach. Ostensibly he leads to the Pruzhany castle from the Puslovsky cellars, which is about 30 kilometers. It is rumored that restorers found him, but keep it a secret.

He lives in a castle and a ghost, he became the count's wife. She was so unhappy with her son's loss, which led to the sale of her beloved home, that she was still looking for Leon to get him a pill. Local residents call the casting of the Black Lady and say that she appears before everyone who decides to unworthy behave in her domain.

The most famous legend of the castle is the story of the singing walls. Many try to verify this statement, following the prompts - you need to go to the east wing, get to the second floor, stand on the windowsill and clap your hands loudly, the building must bezound and the ringing will be heard. While no one was able to achieve the effect, perhaps because the lock lacks many parts.

Modernity

For a long time, the Kossovo castle was in a deplorable state, there was no money for its repair and restoration, but more state interest. Periodically there were people wishing to invest the project from Poland, the Baltic countries, but for different reasons the parties did not agree.

In 2008, the situation shifted from a dead center, it was decided to recreate Kossovo Castle. Reconstruction was to be completed by 2015, but the work is not even now approaching its middle. Over the entire period of restoration (2008-2016), about 29 billion rubles were spent. The first stage of reconstruction was completed in 2009, the delivery date of the facility will be moved to 2018.

According to plans, within the walls of the castle will be organized hotel and tourist center, part of the premises will be given under the museum. The interior of the castle restorers promise to restore the historical photos, documents, as far as possible.

Helpful information

Already today a lot of people come to the unfinished construction and reconstruction, it is not possible to get inside yet, although some rooms are already awaiting guests with a completed interior decoration. Palace of Puslovsky, or Kossovo castle, whose address: Brest region, Ivatsevichi district, Kossovo city, Merechovshchina tract - strikes the imagination of anyone who sees it. And this is not surprising.

For tourists, Kossovo Castle is very attractive. Entrance tickets to it are not for sale, as restoration work is under way. When they run out, it is not yet known, because the work completion dates have already been repeatedly postponed.