When discussing the palace and park complex picturesquely situated on the Ptycz River in Przyłuki (Belarusian: Priłuki) near Minsk in Belarus, Maria Czapska (1894-1981) and her younger brother Józef (1896-1993) come to mind first and foremost. Their childhood was associated with this estate. Since the mid 1880s, it had belonged to their parents, Jerzy Count Hutten-Czapski (1861-1930) and Józefa Leopoldyna née Count Thun-Hohenstein (1867-1903). In the broader consciousness, Przyłuki is perceived more as part of the legend of the Czapski family than as an architectural object. Maria Czapska's memoirs "Europa w rodzinie" undoubtedly contributed to this.

History of Przyłuki - successive owners

The name of the village is derived by some from the meadows stretching over the river (луг - meadow), others from the word "лука" meaning a bend in the river. The history of Przyłuk dates back to the 16th century. The first mention of the village dates back to 1567, when it is mentioned as a place of settlement for the noble families of Esman and Gorski. In 1582, the Przyłuk estate passed into the hands of the Stetkiewicz family. Anna Stetkevich, née Oginska, founded an Orthodox male monastery there in 1635. It was located in a two-storey brick building. In 1740, most likely as a result of the clashing influences of the Orthodox and Uniate churches, the monks were forced to leave the estate, and their residence was demolished. The owner of Przyłuk at the time was Minsk starost Józef Iwanowski. On the site of the monastery, the Ivanovskis built a structure that went down in history as the 'Enchanted Castle', thanks to a ballad of this title by Antoni Edward Odyniec (1804-188).

In the 18th century, the Ogiński princes, related to the Ivanovskis, were also connected with Przyłuky. After the Second Partition of Poland, the extensive estate, then belonging to Maximilian Ivanovsky, became part of Russia. In the mid-19th century, by marriage to Ludwika Ivanowska, the estate became the property of Leon Osztorp (1786-1851) of Dukora. After his death, Przyłuki was inherited by his daughter Ludwika, married to Otton Horwattowa. In 1872, it passed into the hands of the Czapskis. The estate was bought by the owner of nearby Stańków, Count Emeryk Hutten-Czapski (1828-1896).

The Czapskis in the Minsk region

The Czapskis' main seat in the Minsk area was Stańków, which had been under Russian annexation since 1793. In 1811, it was taken over by Count Karol Józef Hutten-Czapski (1777-1836), chamberlain at the court of King Stanislaus Augustus, twice elected to the office of Marshal of the nobility of the Minsk district. He was followed by his son, Emeryk count Hutten-Czapski, known above all for his passion for collecting, an outstanding bibliophile and numismatist, who in 1886 bequeathed Przyłuki to his younger son Jerzy. His elder son, Karol Jan Aleksander (1860-1904), was the mayor of Minsk from 1890 to 1901 and was extremely meritorious for the city's development.

In general, the Czapscy were a branched and influential family in the 19th and early 20th centuries in Minsk. They owned not only Przyłuki and Stańków, but also nearby Vyazin. They were also involved in public life and held high administrative positions. There is information in the literature that Józef Piłsudski, visiting Minsk in September 1919, visited Przyłuki, but - as much as there is evidence of this - it is unlikely.

The palace in Przyłuki - history and architecture

"Our house stood on a hill descending from the south with four terraces towards the mill and park ponds, connected by the Ptycz river. It was built by the previous owner of Przyłuk, Mrs Horwatt, probably in the first half of the 19th century, in the then fashionable English Gothic style. There must have been another manor house here in the past, as the location was exceptionally picturesque" (quoted by M. Czapska, "Europe in the Family").

And indeed, the two-storey brick palace was built much earlier, in the 18th century, and Ludwika Horwatta merely rebuilt it in neo-Gothic style. By decorating it with towers and a crenellation, she gave the building the "romantic" character that was fashionable at the time. The palace partially burnt down in 1868. The next owner, Emeryk hr. Hutten-Czapski, rebuilt the building in a Gothic style. The main façade of the two-storey rectangular building with a two-storey wide central risalit is decorated with ogival openings, which in the lower part form a vestibule. On the garden façade, the risalit is narrower, three storeys high, with a semi-circular terrace adjoining it at ground floor level. The four corner octagonal turrets are topped with a crenellation (the crowning of the walls with so-called teeth).

Maria Czapska's Przyłuki - a childhood memory

"Only one floor of the house was furnished and habitable, probably the ground floor, mother's sunny sitting room, father's later study (perhaps initially their bedroom) and a large living room to the north, for now perhaps the dining room? The western part, the later guest rooms, were yet to be planned. Much later, with the multiplication of the family, our house gained a ground-floor annex, which housed a large dining room to the south and a covered veranda to the north, decorated in summer with potted plants and constituting a sort of extension of the living room" (quoted by M. Czapska "Europe in the Family").

Thanks to the accounts of Maria and Józef Czapski, it is known that the interiors, for an aristocratic residence, were rather modest. Prominent among the works of art in Przłucko were the portrait of King Stanislaus August painted by Jan Chrzciciel Lampi st. (1751-1830), paintings by Józef Brandt (1841-1915), such as 'The Tartars returning from the battlefield'. "A driveway of Tartars returning from a looting expedition" and Henryk Weyssenhoff's (1859-1922) "Blood trail", as well as sketches by Jan Matejko, watercolours by Juliusz Kossak, and several portraits of the Czapski family by various authors.

In the upstairs hall there was a book collection of several thousand books, including leather-bound volumes with an exlibris of Jerzy Count Czapski with the Leliwa coat of arms in the middle. After the outbreak of the First World War, very little of this collection was saved.

Park with manor buildings in Przyłuki

The palace was surrounded by a landscape park established at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, with old trees, ponds and a lime avenue leading from the front and measuring 365 steps. In the park stood a neo-Gothic tower and a 6-metre high chapel (no longer extant). Prominent among the manor buildings was a brick granary with an arcade, in which - as Maria Czapska recalls - 'a chest full of old papers stood', holding the family archive. The park has only been partially preserved (currently covering an area of 4.5 hectares), and the granary and outbuildings have survived to this day.

Przyluki after the Riga Treaty

Przyłuki shared the fate of thousands of landed estates, which by the Riga Treaty remained on the side of Soviet Belarus. The Czapski family left the estate in 1920. Count Jerzy Hutten-Czapski was the last owner of Przyłuk, formally until 1921.

From 1921 to 1941, the palace housed the Rosa Luxemburg rest centre of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus. During the Second World War it was a stationing place for German airmen and the summer residence of the gauleiter of the General District "Belarus" Wilhelm Kube. Laminated and partly demolished in 1944 by retreating German troops, it was reconstructed in the 1950s. At present, it houses the Belarusian Scientific and Research Institute for Plant Protection and a small exposition devoted to the history of the Przyłuki estate, including the Czapski family.