Plamya. The ruins of the Svyatsky estate "Staraya Belitsa".

The first owner of Belitsa from the Svyatsky family was Joseph (mid-19th century). It was he who began the construction of a classic manor house, laid down a distillery, a brick factory, a cheese factory, a tavern and a landscape park. 

The work on the expansion of the estate was continued by his son Karl Svyatsky. The construction of the tower with a portico is his merit. It was built from 1909 to 1911 and like the whole estate was built of branded bricks The Saints.

After walking through the ruins of the former palace, you can find the brand on the bricks "KS" (Karl Svyatsky). The Svyatsky family was not considered particularly rich, but, according to legend, he managed to get rich thanks to the Napoleonic gold found at the bottom of a local lake.

The palace was built in the classical style. It had 18 large rooms, a beautiful ballroom, a rich art gallery, and a library of approximately 3,000 books. The middle part of the estate was occupied by a hall, a guest room, a dining room and the mistress's chambers. The house had several fireplaces decorated with marble and tiles, and there was a tall stove in the hostess's room. There was an exit to the park on this side of the house, now there is a stadium. The park surrounded the house from all sides. According to Polish custom, lime trees were planted in it, and many chestnuts, firs and birches grew there. Not far from the house there were greenhouses and greenhouses where flowers and exotic plants grew. The manor was surrounded by a garden on all sides.

At the beginning of the First World War, Belitsa was visited by the eldest daughter of the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz. After the revolution, the Svyatsky family left their estate and moved to Warsaw.

The manor house, or rather its ruins, are located in a beautiful majestic park with a planter. The former luxury can still be felt, thanks to the relatively well-preserved octagonal tower. Its lower floors were occupied by a spinning wheel, a bathroom and a workshop, and on the second floor the owner's son Stanislav placed his collection of weapons, as well as his ornithological finds. There is a memorial plaque on the ruins stating that Yanka Kupala worked here.

At the beginning of the village, you can see several former outbuildings. The remaining buildings preserved in the village are the remains of a large economic complex owned by the Saints. It included stables, a barn, buildings for the production of butter and cheese, peeling cereals, felting cloth, a tavern, a brick factory, a turpentine factory, a windmill and watermills. A beautiful brovar has also been preserved, which was used for the operation of the distillery until 2002.

Legends about the so-called treasure of Saints still go around in the village of Flame. They searched for treasure both in the park complex and in the underground passages that went from the estate to the park and cemetery, all without success.

 During the war, there was a German headquarters in the palace. In Soviet times, there was a state farm here, and an agricultural college was opened in the estate, which existed until 1954. There was a school, a cultural center, and a library here. After the Great Patriotic War, noble descendants of the Svyatsky family came here, tried to claim their rights to the estate, but were refused. In the mid-1980s, the estate began to collapse. In 1985, after developing a plan for its reconstruction, the roof was removed from the house. This was the end of the restoration.

One of the Latvian partnerships was ready to contribute to the renovation of the estate and make a cultural, business and tourist complex on its basis. However, these plans did not materialize either.

A very beautiful place! It is also interesting to look at the remains of the preserved palace of the Svyatsky family. It's just a pity that its beauty and majesty need to be mentally "completed" and supplemented with the knowledge and photographs that can now be obtained only from historical descriptions.