34 Landmarks of Belarus

28.07.2023 - 20:16 / 34travel.me

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1. Kosava Castle

Ivatsevichy district, Kosava

The Gothic Revival style castle would have looked quite natural in British landscapes; it didn’t look typical for Belarus in the early XIX century, when it was built, and neither does it now. The castle was built by Kazimir Puslouski, but his grandson Leon recklessly gambled it away. The building was burnt during the war. According to the plan made up in 2008, it’s supposed to be renovated: there will be a restaurant and wedding venue. Luckily, it’s still just a plan.

A massive building has 12 towers: one for each month of the year. Summer towers are in the middle and they stand for the richest months (from May till August). Switch on your imagination, because the castle interiors haven’t been preserved: you can’t see the Black Room for card games, the White Room faced with marble for fancy parties, or the Pink one for concerts. There is no 132 rooms already, and there’s no glass floor, under which bright fish swam. What is preserved perfectly, it’s a river meadow and the museum of Kastsushka at a walking distance.

How to get? It’s kind of a challenge to get there by public transport: for example, you can take a train to Ivatsevichy, but then you’ll still need to cover 13 km by bus or car.

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2. The Palace Complex of the Sapegas in Ruzhany

Pruzhany district, Ruzhany

Travel guides call the castle ruins ‘belarusian Versailles’, but it’s not spectacular views or glamourous interios that you should come here for (there is not so much of them left), but strong energy of the place. Just imagine: in the beginning of the 17th century there was founded a castle and the chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Lew Sapega took part in it. So as to make life there not only comfortable, but also secure, three massive defensive towers were added to the complex. Important state issues were discussed in here, top managers of those times used to organize balls, also the Sapegas archive and the state treasury were kept in the castle. After the uprising of 1831 was defeated, the Sapegas left the residence and the castle turned into a textile factory. During the WWI the ensemble was set to fire, but after the WWII the idea of restoration was forgotten completely.

Now you can drop by the museum (15а, Urbanovicha vulica) and learn the history of the place: there are 4 rooms and the guide