Orzeszko burial chapel in Zakoziel - a historic neo-Gothic chapel in Zakoziel (Zakoziele), now in the Drohiczyn region of the Brest region of the Republic of Belarus. Erected in the second quarter of the 19th century by the Orzeszko family at their estate, it served as a private chapel and at the same time a burial chapel. Today it is disused, in a far-reaching ruin.

History
Zakoziel belonged to the Orzeszeks of the Korab coat of arms from the second half of the 18th century, when representatives of this family reached high land offices in the Pinsk district. In 1814, it was the centre of a sizable estate, whose hereditary successor was Józef Orzeszko, Marshal of Pińsk, sub-state governor of the courts of the Kobryń district. Józef and his wife, Elisabeth of Orda, should be credited with the initiative to erect a neoclassical manor house here, built on the site of an older, more modest one, which became the seat of this branch of the family. The manor house (destroyed in 1944) was inscribed in a regular, axial garden composition, after 1826 extended by the next owners - Nikodem (1790-1843), a colonel in the Polish army, married to Ferdynanda Chrzanowska. During their reign, the Zakaziel complex was enlarged from the south-west by a fragment freely composed as an English park. The author of this composition was probably the architect Franciszek Jaszczołd.

The Neo-Gothic chapel was built in 1838 or 1839 on the initiative of Nikodem and Ferdynanda Orzeszek, who extended and modernised their estate. It stood on the edge of the park, probably also designed by Jaszczołd. In 1844, it was listed as part of the parish of Blessed Virgin Mary in Braşevichi (Kobrin deanery of the diocese of Vilnius). It had the status of a private manorial chapel with a bishop's indult. The founders intended the shrine to also become the family burial chapel. By 1866, Józef Orzeszko (died 1826), his son Nikodem (died 1843), the builder of the chapel, Nikodem's daughter Teofila Buchowiecka, and Jan Chrzanowski, the father of Ferdynanda Orzeszkowa, were all buried there. Due to the lack of a Roman Catholic church in the area, the chapel was also made available during services to the local Latin population, who were few in number. A small cemetery was established next to it, on the northern side of the chapel.

According to a legend repeated in many publications, in the summer of 1863. Eliza Orzeszkowa, sister-in-law of the then owner of Zakoziel, Kalikst Piotr Orzeszka, hid Romuald Traugutt, the war chief of the Kobryń district, in the chapel.

After the fall of the January Uprising, the chapel shared the fate of the estate, which was confiscated for Kalikst Piotr Orzeszka's participation in the insurrection. In 1866, the provincial authorities ordered it to be closed, and Braşevichi parish was also cancelled. The Grodno governor ordered the chapel to be converted into a branch of the Orthodox church in Volovl. However, the transfer of the shrine was delayed, probably as a result of reminders from Ferdynanda Orzeszkowa, née Chrzanowska, who fought for its return. In May 1867, she was informed that the chapel could not be restored to worship, but was allowed to hand over the building and furnishings to the former owners on condition that it be used exclusively as a family burial chapel and that the altar and bell tower be removed. From then on, the status of the chapel is not fully clear. In the end, it was not transformed into an Orthodox church, although in 1868 it was handed over to the parish priest of the Orthodox church in Volovl. In 1895 it was mentioned as a former chapel of the defunct parish of Braşevichi, and in the 1904 to 1920 schemas of the Vilnius diocese it was mentioned as a chapel of the parish church of Yanov, one of the two active Roman Catholic churches in the Kobrin deanery. In the Second Polish Republic it was made more widely available, serving military settlers and colonists. At first it was assigned to the parish of Holy Trinity and St Josephat in Torokany, and then to the newly established (1922) parish of Our Lady of Sorrows in Popin.

In 1915, the chapel lost its roofing, from which the German army stripped the copper sheeting. After 1920, the new owner of Zakoziel, Karol Tolłoczko, planned to carry out renovation work at his own expense. At the same time, the chapel was declared a historical monument, so the authorities ordered that the works be halted until plans approved by the Polesie voivodeship conservator were submitted. The extent of the work finally carried out is not known. Most likely, the spire crowning the roof was reconstructed, while the interior was not fully repaired.

The chapel probably operated until 1944 or 1945. After its closure, some of the furnishings, including allegedly sculptures from the façade turrets and the organ music box, were transferred to Pinsk Cathedral. Unused, it gradually deteriorated, falling into disrepair in the last two decades. It was completely stripped of its furnishings, the roof partially collapsed, the stucco decoration was severely damaged, and the statues of apostles in the chapel turret niches disappeared. The crypt with the burials of the Orzeszko family members was devastated.

In 2008, the local authorities decided to undertake renovation work. With the help of students from the secondary school in Volov, the basement and the interior of the chapel were cleaned up. At the same time, archaeological research was carried out in the crypt under the supervision of employees of the "Brestrestawracjaprojekt" company. The human bones found were taken to Brest to be analysed anthropologically, and a reburial was organised for the remains of the Orzeszko family members, which were deposited in the cemetery near the chapel.

The comprehensive restoration of the chapel began in October 2019. In 2020, with funds from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (the 'Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad' programme) and with the participation of the 'Help for Poles in the East' Foundation, technical studies and a programme of conservation work and protection of the object were prepared. The rafter framing was secured and the roof received a new covering.

Architecture and decoration of the chapel
The brick chapel was built in the English Gothic style. It is situated at the edge of the landscape park in the south-western part of the village, almost on the axis of the road leading towards Wołół, on a small, artificially raised hill. On its northern side there is a cemetery with a tombstone of Jan Szlachetka (1856-1933) and a contemporary (2008) grave with the remains of the Orzeszeks transferred from the crypt of the chapel.

The chapel has a square plan and twin single-storey elevations, with tall blind vimperies on the axes with a sharp arch in which windows have been broken and an entrance in the front elevation. All are surmounted by high triangular paravent gables, with three pointed windows framed by a pair of similarly closed niches. The chapel's lightness and soaring appearance is determined by the high triangular gables crowning the facades and the strongly dissected corners. The tall turrets embracing them were flanked at the bottom by storied scarps and extended in the finial by slender pinnacles. The broken roof was topped by a tall bell turret topped with a spire. A marble staircase originally led up to the chapel. The interior of the chapel has a square ground plan with chamfered corners. It was crowned with a crystal vault. In the basement there is a large, vaulted crypt.

The building, both externally and internally, had rich stucco and ironwork detail, some of which has been preserved. The façades featured stucco mouldings curved into a thread, rosettes and frieze arcades in the gables, while inside there was an intricate vault filled with a network of thin ribs and masquerade and rich window frames. These were complemented by artistic leafy consoles, fleurons and a prominent overhang decorating the vaulted keystone. Cast iron was used for the masons set into the windows (once fitted with stained glass), the crosses crowning the gables, the chapel niches in the turrets, which originally housed the life-size figures of the Evangelists, and the large medallions decorated with the coats of arms of the founders-owners (Korab - Orzeszków and Nowina - Chrzanowski), which distinguish the façade elevation. The main altar and choir were also cast-iron. Stucco mouldings arranged in the motif of rosettes decorated the gables of the façade. In the interior, the vaulting was filled with a dense network of thin and slightly thicker ribs forming rhombuses and blind masonry, the vault keystones were decorated with leafy rosettes, and a fleuron with a pinecone hung in the middle.

Artistic values of the building
The chapel was located at the edge of a free-form, sizeable park attached to the former baroque manor layout, becoming the nodal point of its composition. Situated on a small, artificially raised hill, overlooking a picturesque pond which formed the core of the park, it was at the same time well visible from the public road, from which it could be reached through a gate in the low fence surrounding the park. Exposed against the background of the park's greenery, the graceful central, soaring building acquired the forms of the English Gothic. The harmonious yet rich impression made by the building was evidenced by the lush ornamental detailing, executed in stucco and in a characteristic material that was modern at the time of its construction - cast iron. For both the exterior and interior were densely 'wrapped' with linear, openwork decorations.

Both the chapel and the park in Zakopane were probably designed by Franciszek Jaszczołd (1808-1873), an architect working in Podlasie and the Grodno province. He was the creator of original layouts for landed gentry residences in park surroundings. The Zakopane chapel is his only religious building.

The Zakhozel chapel is considered one of the most beautiful examples of Neo-Gothic architecture in Belarus.