At present, Czarny Ostriv is a provincial urban-type settlement in the Khmelnytsky District with a population of around 1,000. Meanwhile, once upon a time, this village was home to the estates of the Wiśniowiecki and Przeździecki families. Cultural and economic life flourished, and the adornment of Black Ostrów was the beautiful palace, which has been preserved to this day.

The date of the foundation of Cherniy Oystrov is unknown, but, according to Roman Aftanazy, it was "one of the oldest settlements on the territory of the former Podolia Province". As early as the 14th century, there was a castle built at the mouth of the Mszaniec River to the Bohu, which defended Podolia against the Tartar hordes. Black Ostrów was ruled successively by the Nowodworskis, the Włodkowskis and the Świerszczs. In 1582, this locality came into the possession of Prince Konstantin Wisniowiecki after his marriage to Swierszczkówna.

The development of the town was greatly accelerated by the granting of municipal and Magdeburg rights by King Sigismund Augustus in 1556. The monarch allowed weekly markets on Monday, John the Baptist Day and Sunday after All Saints' Day. After the male line of the Wiśniowiecki family died out in 1744, the estate passed to Michał Serwacy's granddaughter Katarzyna Ogińska (d. 1762), who married Antoni Tadeusz Przeździecki (1718-1771), sub-chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in December 1744.

Beautiful palace and church
After the death of Antoni Tadeusz, the estate was inherited by Michał Przeździecki, who began to use the title "Count of Czarny Ostrów". At the end of the 18th century, the new owner built a palace there in exchange for the Wiśniowiecki family's castellum. The new building was reconstructed until the middle of the next century, when it "began to resemble an Italian villa with neo-Gothic elements". The palace was situated by a large and picturesque pond formed by the Boh river and its tributary Mszaniec. The residence "was erected on a peninsula or even an island, surrounded by water from all sides and connected to the mainland by causeways and long bridges. A square courtyard occupied the top of a small hill. From the main entrance gate, the road led uphill, first between the trees of the park, then between the two cottages that seemed to form a second gate, and finally, surrounding a flower bed planted with pink acacias, it came up to the portico of the house". To the left was the quadrilateral neo-Gothic viewing and clock tower tower towering over the palace. Rising from it was another - smaller - tower with a spire, on which the Przeździecki family flag was flying. The palace also had 'four-torpedo towers surrounded by pinnacles and arcaded galleries'. The terrace was covered with a high smooth hipped roof. In summer it was decorated with lemon trees and other plants grown in the orangery.

Unfortunately, information about the interior of the Przeździecki residence is quite scarce. On the ground floor there were living rooms and a library. On the first floor there were salons. Apparently they were very beautiful. One in particular stood out: the 'Yellow' salon and another with white mosaic stucco walls. There hung a portrait of Liza Przeździecka by Franz Xavier Winterhalter, who immortalised many crowned heads, including Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II, Empress Elisabeth ("Sissi") and the family of Queen Victoria.

The residence was surrounded by an extensive romantic park. At the back of the building, it "sloped [down] towards the lake, to which one descended by stone steps from terrace to terrace, up to a bridge about 250 m long". The bridge led to an alder grove and was halfway crossed by an island where the palace band played to entertain guests and hosts. Outbuildings appeared around the palace.

In 1797 Michał Przeździecki began building a church, which was completed in 1826 by his son Konstanty. The temple was located near the palace. It was a brick church, in classicist style, resting on 8 pillars. At the top were 5 statues carved in stone, the largest and highest being that of the Virgin Mary. Two of the side statues, set lower, depicted angels, and two on the attic depicted the apostles Peter and Paul. The temple was crowned by a small turret with a dome. Above the entrance was the inscription: PRAISE GOD ALL PEOPLES.

The Przezdzieckis were also prolific entrepreneurs. In the area of their Black Ostrów and its surroundings there were 4 mills (including one steam mill), factories for the production of bricks, tiles, bells, potash, wax, sodium, as well as (there was also a jewellery factory), a sugar factory, a brewery. The town was also famous for its great fairs and had a railway connection. The Przeździecki family also owned the surrounding villages, so in 1820 they had 23,353 serfs (so-called male souls), in 1849 - 11,515, in 1860 - 17,487.

Culture above all
The Przeździecki family were lovers of art and history. Their palace kept the letters of Jarema Wiśniowiecki to Jan III Sobiecki and many other documents of great historical value. Among other things, the walls were decorated with paintings by European masters Cultural activity was developed on a particularly large scale by Konstanty Przezdziecki, marshal of the gentry of the Podolia province (1782-1856), who had a splendid court orchestra under the baton of maestro Luigi Tonini. He also employed a court artist. On the other hand, Aleksander Narcyz (1814-1871) was a well-known patron of the arts, initiator of the translation and publication of Długosz's works, one of the founders of the 'Warsaw Library' and a friend of J. Kraszewski. He wrote the now classic "Podole, Wołyń, Ukraina" (Vilnius 1841). His son Karol became a recognised translator into French of works by Mickiewicz, Słowacki and Kraszewski. He worked under the pseudonym Charles de Noire-Isle, i.e. Charles of the Black Star.

In 1847, Black Ostrów was visited by Franz Liszt himself. He arrived at the Przeździecki residence on Good Friday. He found his stay there pleasant, as evidenced by his letter to his friend Princess Karoline Sayn-Wittgenstein: 'I have made myself quite at home here in Black Ostrów with Count Przeździecki [...] marshal of the [Podolia] province for twenty-seven years. I occupy a very pleasant flat (in which his daughter-in-law usually lives) with a splendid fireplace and an exceptionally select library [...] I spend the afternoon playing whist and listening to the count's orchestra, which in my opinion is the best in the neighbourhood, quite well selected and capable of playing tolerably well a couple of overtures by Rossini and Donizetti'.

The romantic legend of Laura Przeździecka
Poles probably associate the Przezdzieckis with Arcadia, which was created by Helena Radziwiłł, née Przeździecka. But in the memory of Ukrainians, it is not these eminent representatives of the family who remain, but the beautiful 21-year-old Laura, who did not have any special achievements to her credit. Despite this, her story is still moving. The girl was the cherished daughter of Karol Przezdziecki and niece of Alexander Narcissus. One afternoon she was riding her horse. When the animal heard the sound of thunder, it spooked and threw her off its back. Laura broke her back. Her distraught parents sought rescue for her from doctors all over Europe. The best specialists helplessly spread their hands and after two years, the paralysed Laura died in Italy. The countess was buried in the family crypt in the Chernostrovsk church. To honour their daughter's memory, her parents commissioned a beautiful white marble tombstone from the Polish sculptor Wiktor Brodzki. The monument depicted a young woman with loose hair, wearing a nightgown and covered with a sheet. The deceased was holding a cross in her hand. The fact that she is lying on high cushions indicates that the deceased is waiting for the resurrection. The sculptor's artistic craftsmanship is evidenced by the fact that there are lace and buttons carved from marble on the nightdress, and stitching on the mattress. Brodzki's work also became known in Italy and shortly after its completion, the Pole received a commission for a tombstone that was an almost faithful copy of Laura Przeździecka's. The work stood in Rome's CampoVerano cemetery, on the grave of Enedina Sanna, the Italian minister's wife who died in childbirth.

Twilight of the Black Dawn and gradual revival
In 1898. Elisabeth, widow of Karol Przezdziecki, for unknown reasons sold the palace and estate to Countess Ignatjew, reserving the right to live in the palace. She died in 1900. Although there was a clause in the sale contract stipulating that the Przezdziecki family could buy back their former property within three years, their attempts failed.

After the October Revolution, the Przezdziecki residence was gradually destroyed. A club for soldiers was set up in the palace of the former owners, and the crypt was devastated. Laura's tombstone suffered damage, including the destruction of the cross in her hands. A researcher at the museum in Kamenets Podolski named Matveyev wanted to save the monument, and succeeded in obtaining permission to transport it to the local Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul. As part of the fight against religion, the shrine was finally closed in 1936 and converted into a museum. In 1938 ( according to other data, it was in 1945), Moscow museum workers - captivated by the beauty of the tombstone - intended to transport it to Moscow. Matveyev managed to convince the capital's visitors that, due to minor cracks, a multi-mile journey would lead to the destruction of the monument. This is how Laura remained in Kamenets Podolsk and is one of the city's most popular monuments.

During Soviet times, all the buildings of the Przezdziecki estate were destroyed, except for the palace, which housed a school until 1982. It was not until the 1990s that the building was restored. It now houses a museum. The church was also rebuilt and now serves local worshippers.