The long-awaited restoration of Kościuszko's associate's estate in Vidzy-Laŭčynskija turned into replacing wooden walls with expanded clay concrete

Attention to the methods used for restoring the 18th-19th century estate in the village of Vidzy-Laŭčynskija was drawn by the Telegram channel "Spadčyna" (Heritage). Earlier, this abandoned architectural monument was sold to a private investor for over 63 thousand rubles.

Recently, builders carefully reconstructed the lost side arches and the attic of the garden gallery and carried out anchor tie-downs for the basement walls. However, photos of other work areas, published by researcher Volha Labačeŭskaja and former chairman of the Society for the Protection of Monuments Anton Astapovič, confirmed that the reconstruction is being carried out using ordinary construction repair methods with mass replacement of authentic structures with modern materials.

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Expanded Clay Concrete in the Log House, Iron Pipes, and Lost Frescoes

As seen in photos from inside the building, the lower part of the historical wooden walls up to windowsill level, instead of traditional prosthetic replacement of rotten log courses, was simply cut out and replaced with masonry of modern expanded clay concrete blocks. From the outside, the old log structure began to be sheathed with sheets of moisture-resistant plywood.

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In place of the completely dismantled four-column wooden portico in front of the main entrance, builders poured massive concrete footings and installed thin metal pipes on them, which will serve as the framework for new columns.

The brick arched veranda on the side of the park and lake was also affected. The authentic dressed stone steps of the two-sided staircase were simply dug out and dumped into the grass next to the building, and new monolithic concrete staircases were poured in their place.

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Specialists from the Belarusian Heritage Institute drew attention to yet another irreversible loss: inside the palace, the historical plastering was completely removed without prior scientific probing.

Meanwhile, according to a thorough study by Polish architectural historian Roman Aftanazy, who dedicated a separate chapter to Vidzy-Laŭčynskija in his multi-volume work on the residences of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the walls in the estate's rooms were originally painted with frescoes, in the mid-19th century they were covered with wallpaper, and only later were they plastered over.

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The historical plastering, which, according to researchers, might have preserved frescoes, has been completely removed.

A professional study of the wall surfaces could have revealed unique polychrome decorations from the Classical era and fragments of old wallpapers preserved beneath the layers, copies of which are not difficult to order from European manufactories today.

Before World War II, the two-tract interiors of the estate were distinguished by rich decor. In the small salon stood a white tiled fireplace and Louis XV-style furniture upholstered in white silk with flowers, while the large ceremonial hall was adorned with a mahogany suite in the late Empire style.

A whole art gallery hung on the walls: the painting "Saint Joseph" by Szymon Czechowicz, a Byzantine icon of the Mother of God in a silver robe, a portrait of Michał Marykoni by Jan Rustem, works by Kanut Rusiecki and Ludomir Janowski, as well as Dutch and French genre paintings, including the work by an unknown master "Bull-Zeus accompanied by four cupids."

Brother-in-law from Naroŭlia and Count Rostworowski's Veranda

Of particular value to the history of Belarusian architecture is the two-story Neo-Renaissance garden veranda, near which the stone stairs have now been removed. Before 1900, a wooden terrace existed in its place, until the last owner of the estate, Uładzisłaŭ Minejka, commissioned the project for a brick extension with three semicircular arcades on each level, doubled pilasters, and an attic from the renowned Vilnius architect, Count Tadeusz Rostworowski.

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The emergence of this project was explained by close family ties. Uładzisłaŭ Minejka and Tadeusz Rostworowski were brothers-in-law — both married daughters of Alaksandr Askierka, one of the leaders of the 1863 uprising. The youngest daughter of the insurgent, Maryja, became the wife of the owner of Vidzy-Laŭčynskija; the middle daughter, Sofija, married Rostworowski in 1899; and the eldest, Jadwiga, was married to Edvard Horvat, the owner of the famous palace in Naroŭlia.

Rostworowski was a frequent guest at both estates — in Vidzy-Laŭčynskija, five watercolor portraits painted by him were even preserved, along with large oil portraits of all three Askierka sisters by Ludomir Janowski. In the early 20th century, the architect developed reconstruction projects for both Vidzy-Laŭčynskija and Naroŭlia. As experts from the Belarusian Heritage Institute note, there is a certain irony of fate that both these monuments, after decades of neglect, began to be restored almost simultaneously, but with diametrically different approaches to authenticity.

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From Kościuszko's Associate to the First Resort with 60 Baths

The history of the estate itself dates back to the times of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Žygimont Kiejstutovič, who in the 15th century granted extensive lands between the Dziśna and Drukša rivers on the route from Vilnius to Dzvinsk to three brothers — Daŭhird, Daŭkša, and Naruš. In 1524, the estate was acquired by the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Albrecht Haštoĺd, after which the holdings were divided: one part went to the Pac family, and the other remained in the hands of Naruš's descendants — the Naruševič family of the "Vadvich" coat of arms.

It was from the position of Jan Naruševič, who was the Grand Lithuanian Hunter (Łoŭčy), that the estate received the name Vidzy-Laŭčynskija, and in the mid-17th century, his daughter Alena Alaksandra brought these lands as a dowry to her husband Aŭhuscin Vaŭžecki.

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The estate gained its greatest historical fame at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, when General Tomasz Waŭžecki lived here — a close associate of Tadeusz Kościuszko, who, after Kościuszko's wounding and capture in the Battle of Maciejowice in 1794, led the uprising as the supreme national leader and directed the defense of Warsaw. After two years of imprisonment in the Peter and Paul Fortress, Waŭžecki was amnestied by Emperor Paul I and returned to his native home, where he lived until his death in 1816 and was buried in nearby Vidzy.

In Belarusian local history literature, the construction of the preserved wooden palace is traditionally attributed to Tomasz Waŭžecki himself, but Roman Aftanazy, referencing family testimonies of the last owners, clarifies that the house was built by the then owner Stanisłaŭ Waŭžecki.

Moreover, until 1939, in the economic part of the estate, there was another unique brick building from the second half of the 18th century with an unusual five-column portico, which locals called the "bakery." According to Aftanazy's version, this brick house, along with the neighboring outbuilding, was originally the Vaŭžecki residence, but due to weak foundations, its right side began to collapse — the wall had to be urgently reinforced with a powerful buttress of fieldstone, and the owners moved to a new wooden palace on a hill above Lake Dvoŭnaje.

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In 1812, the estate was plundered by French troops, but it quickly recovered. At this time, young Adam Mickiewicz, who came here with his uncle Majewski, was a guest in Vidzy-Laŭčynskija.

In the mid-19th century, Emiliya, the daughter of Braslaŭ marshal Michał Vaŭžecki, married Tomasz Minejka, the Vilnius provincial marshal, and the estate, covering about three thousand hectares, passed to the Minejka family.

The new owners found an unexpected commercial use for the estate. Utilizing local hydrogen sulfide springs, the Mineikas opened one of the first balneological resorts in Belarusian lands here, named "Łazienki" (Baths), arranged according to Western European models.

In the mid-19th century, 60 therapeutic baths were available for clients, unusually shaped bathhouses were built on the lake shore, and in the five-hectare landscaped park, where dozens of exotic tree species grew — from blue spruces and Douglas firs to purple-leaved hazel — visitors were offered horseback riding, games, and boating.

Incidentally, in the western part of this park, behind the tennis court, the owners even arranged a separate cemetery for their beloved horses and dogs, marking the burials with boulders and a row of five gray walnut trees.

By the end of the 19th century, the resort could not withstand competition and closed, and after World War II, the former manor house first housed an orphanage, then a rural school. After the school closed, the building, which has the status of a historical and cultural value and was on the balance sheet of the Braslaŭ District Executive Committee's education department, stood empty and deteriorated for many years until it received its current renovation with gas silicate blocks and metal pipes.

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