The first mention of the town of Kossovo can be found in historical sources since 1494. It would have remained unknown, but once the entrepreneurial Wojciech Puslowski settled in the town. He built a carpet factory, several churches, made repairs in many, breathed life into the town, where it became convenient and monetary for all the inhabitants. His descendant, Casimir Puslowski, built a palace for himself, now known as Kossovsky Castle.
How the castle appeared
The famous Polish architect Frantisek Jaszczola worked on the project, his idea and development formed the basis of the castle and park project. Construction began in 1838. Architects V. Marconi and A. Zhmurka took part in the design and interior design. It is not known which of the two owners wanted construction more, and the father and son Puslovsky financed the construction. According to some traditions, the place for construction was not chosen by chance, as well as the embodied neo-Gothic style. Opposite the residence in 1746 was born the leader of the Polish liberation movement - Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
The Belarusian tycoon Wojciech Puslowski was the foremost man of his time, he welcomed technological progress and was one of the first to install steam engines in his carpet factory. The neighborhood with the house of the revolutionary was one of the pluses for the foundation of their own housing. As a tribute to the hero, the house where Kosciuszko was born was restored by the count. It can be visited with a guided tour today.
Card debt
Kossovsky castle is sometimes called the “Knightly Dream”, and in its heyday there was no more beautiful castle in Belarus. Construction began in 1838, the head of the family did not live to see the completion of construction, and Vandalin Puslovsky continued his work. The process lasted for eight years. The next family member, Leon, became the owner and owner of the entire family estate. Growing up outside the homeland, a young nobleman visited Kossovo only in raids for arranging balls, masquerades and other exotic things.
His main passion was card games: once he lost a huge amount and, in order to repay the debt, sold the Kossovsky Castle to the merchant in Petersburg, Alexandrov, for a small fraction of the money - 700 thousand rubles, which covered the debt, but did not correlate with the cost of an architectural masterpiece.
Misfit Castle
In the future, Kossovsky Castle (Belarus) repeatedly changed owners. Alexandrov resold the brilliant mansion of Anna Trubetskoy, taking from the sale two times more money than he paid. They say that the Trubetskoy family was not going to move to a new house, but all the valuables, the internal situation were taken out, and the house itself was closed and later sold. Then the palace was owned by Princess Obomalek, Prince of Oldenburg.
World War I brought destruction and robbery. During this period, the garden was destroyed, where about 150 unique plants and trees grew. During the reign of Poland, the estate was given to the council and school, where they taught beekeeping and gardening.
The Second World War covered Kossovsky Castle with horror: four ghettos were organized here, where almost the entire Jewish population of the city was destroyed. Jews made up a large part of the population of Kosovo, after the liberation, the number of people in the city decreased by seven times. Damage to the building was caused by the fire, which was organized by the partisans. He burned for ten days in a row. Together with the castle, the house-museum of Tadeusz Kosciuszko was burned, where the Germans placed their headquarters.
Architecture
Kossovsky castle has always impressed with its alien architecture. It consists of a two-story central building, to which two wings adjoin. Toothed towers are used in the design of the upper portal of the building, which makes the house look like a castle. The appearance of the building carries its own semantic load - each tower corresponded to a specific month of the year. The central part included four turrets corresponding to the most fertile months - from May to August.
It is reliably known that there were 130 rooms in the entire castle, the location of which was designed in such a way that in each of them the sun was delayed for two and a half days. On such days, the hosts celebrated the room’s birthday. The design of each room was thought out to the smallest detail, and therefore the rooms had their own names. Thus, the Pink Hall was preferred for musical evenings, the Black Room was used for card games, and the White Hall was used for balls and receptions. All rooms were isolated.
One of the legends claims that there was one large hall where the glass floor was located, and under it was an aquarium. Tapestries hung in abundance throughout the castle, fireplaces were equipped, at the whim of the owner, but at the same time steam heating was carried out, which heated the whole Kossovsky castle. On the second floor there was a large tropical garden where a lion lived.
Legends
The castles of Belarus represent a great historical heritage. Kossovsky castle, even among a host of more ancient buildings, stands out for the number of myths and legends.
The most romantic legend tells of a large underground passage, which could be traveled by carriage. Allegedly, he leads to Pruzhany castle from the Puslovsky cellars, which is about 30 kilometers. Rumor has it that the restorers sought him out, but keep it a secret.
Lives in the castle and ghost, he became the wife of the count. She was so unhappy with her son’s loss, which led to the sale of his beloved home, that she is still looking for Leon to drag him out. Locals call the ghost the Black Lady and say that she appears in front of everyone who decides to behave herself unworthy in her possessions.
The most famous legend of the castle is the story of the singing walls. Many people try to verify this statement by following the prompts - you need to go to the east wing, get to the second floor, stand on the windowsill and clap your hands loudly, the building should resonate and you hear a ringing sound. So far, no one has been able to achieve the effect, possibly because the castle lacks many parts.
Modernity
For a long time, the Kossovsky castle was in a deplorable state; there was no money for its repair and restoration, but to a greater extent the state’s interest. Periodically, there were people who wanted to invest in the project from Poland and the Baltic countries, but for various reasons the parties did not agree.
In 2008, the situation got off the ground, it was decided to recreate the Kossovsky castle. The reconstruction was supposed to be completed by 2015, but the work is currently not even come to its middle. Over the entire period of restoration (2008-2016), about 29 billion rubles were spent. The first phase of the reconstruction was completed back in 2009, the deadline for the object was moved to 2018.
According to plans, a hotel and tourist center will be organized within the walls of the castle, part of the premises will be given over to the museum. Restorers promise to restore the interior of the castle from historical photos, documents, as far as possible.
