The remains of the Pavlovsk estate are not only the history of this particular residence in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but also a reminder of the radical social reforms undertaken by Enlightenment enthusiasts at the end of the 18th century, such as Vilnius canon Pawel Ksawery Brzostowski - the founder of the Pavlovsk Republic.

The Pavlov estate (current Lithuanian name Merkinė), i.e. the estate located on the Merechanka River, owes its proper name to Pavel Ksawery Brz ostowski (1739-1827), a Vilnius canon and aristocrat, who bought it in 1767 from Hipolit Korsak, a Novogrudok stolnik. The old estate of Maly Merecz, which had previously belonged successively to the Radziwill family, the Słuszko family, the Dunin family and finally to the Korsak family, was renamed Pawłów by the clergyman after his name, who decided to introduce social and economic reforms to the estate . Soon, therefore, Brzostowski's estate of over 3,000 hectares was referred to as the "Pawlowski Republic " . The canon of Vilnius, who was also an Enlightenment publicist, translator and protector of writers, freed the peasants from serfdom by leasing the land to them . In addition, he called all the inhabitants of the estates citizens, organised self-government and a police force. He also provided them with a school and medical care, and encouraged the development of crafts . The functioning of such an organism included a parliament with an upper and lower house, its own coinage and laws, and even a coat of arms and flag. Paweł Ksawery Brzostowski's activities were watched by King Stanisław August and enlightened aristocrats, who tried to transfer some of his ideas to their own estates. The statute of the "Rzeczpospolita Pawłowska" was approved by the Four-Year Sejm in 1791. Unfortunately, after the second partition of the Commonwealth (1793), due to the support of the Kościuszko Uprising, the creator of the "Pawłowski State" was forced to abandon his experiment. He left first for Saxony, then for Italy, and on his return took up the rectory in nearby Rukojny, where he was found by death.

He had previously sold the Pavlov estate to Fryderyk Józef Moszyński (1738-1817), who, faced with a completely different political situation, reversed the reforms . In 1799, the estate passed into the hands of Octavius Choisel de Gouffefier (1773-1840), whose father, Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste (1752-1817), a French diplomat, fled to Russia in 1792 after the outbreak of the French Revolution and entered the service of Catherine II. Circa. 1834, the Kobyliński family became the owners of Pawłowo, and from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the estate changed owners several times. The last possessor of the estate before World War II was Witold Wagner. Unfortunately, the wartime and post-war period, when the kolkhoz operated here, led to the ruin of the palace-park complex and the manor farm.

The estate of Paweł Ksawery Brzostowski was planned by Carl Spampani (ca. 1740-1783), a Roman by origin, who was also an architect of Stanisław August, working in Vilnius and Grodno for the Tyzenhauzes and the Szczytt family. Above all, the boundaries of the estate, which, as mentioned, was over 3,000 hectares, were marked by Carlo Spampani with specially raised mounds and boundary posts. The classicist palace consisted of three two-storey buildings with a rectangular ground plan connected by one-storey connecting passageways, so in plan it had a double H-shape. The central entrance was emphasised by a lofty four-column Tuscan portico with a pediment, where Brzostowski's Strzemię coat of arms was placed. The door and window openings were framed with subdued surrounds. The main hall in the central edifice was to be covered with an apparent dome. The residence was encompassed by a landscaped park connected to the extensive forests that were part of the estate.

What remains of the palace today are ruins of cellars and fragments of walls. In front of the driveway, 19th century outbuildings also survived , built by the later owners, most probably the Kobylinskis. They enclosed the axial entrance to the palace grounds. In the palace park some fragments of earth fortifications in the form of quadrilateral ramparts and ditches have survived, as well as a later neo-gothic gate from the 1st half of the 19th century erected by the successive owners of the estate. The chapel and the inn have not survived. However, the stables, smithy and treasury have survived from the farm buildings.

The latter building is particularly interesting. It was built on the plan of an octagon, as a three-storey building with rusticated corners and a concave, broken roof. The vault is thus shaped like a tower. Carefully restored, it now houses a small museum, although it should be recalled that it originally served as an ice house. In a world without electricity, and therefore without fridges, this was a necessary part of every prosperous household. Hence the above-standard thick walls of the building and the deep, windowless cellars of the treasury, where ice cut in winter was stored directly.

The grandeur of Pavlov is evidenced by the engravings commissioned by Pavel Ksawery Brzostowski and made by the Roman artist Carlo Antonini in 1797-1798 . The theme of the Pavlovian Republic was also taken up by François Smuglewicz (1745-1807) and François Xavier Fabre (1766-1828) . Indeed, Paweł Ksawery Brzostowski sought to preserve the memory and publicise his remarkable initiative.