Tarnovo. Grabovsky-Mavras Manor

Along the Lida-Shchuchin highway, 18 kilometers from Lida, there is a place Tarnovo, where a manor house with a park has been preserved to our time.

The manor in Tarnovo originated somewhere in the 17th century and belonged first to the family of the Zavish, and then passed to Peter Tarnovsky. For a while it belonged to the Radziwill tycoons.

Before the anti–Russian uprising of 1863-1864, Konstantin Kashits was the owner here. Kashits took an active part in the uprising and was exiled, and sold his property with a manor in Tarnovo to Russian Colonel Dmitry Mavras, who took part in suppressing the uprising. An interesting fact is that Colonel Mavras not only suppressed the uprising, but was even an aide-de-camp to Count Muravyov, who led the suppression of the rebels. Mavras rose to the rank of lieutenant General and left the service.

After his retirement, Mavras settled in Tarnovo and began a large construction project. According to the project of architect Vikenty Gorsky, a palace and outbuildings were built: a stable, a brovar, an icebox and a windmill. A park was planted and two lakes were dug. The library in the palace had about 9 thousand volumes.

In 1890, after the death of his wife, a neo-Gothic stone chapel with a family crypt and a bell tower was built in her honor. Mavras himself was buried in this chapel. In Soviet times, the chapel was looted. An interesting circumstance in the biography of D. Mavras is that his grandson, Boris Skosyrev, became the first king of Andorra!

In Soviet times, the palace housed first a collective farm office, then a post office, a savings bank, a communications center and residential apartments.

The palace building is two-storied with a tower that is four stories high. Researchers interpret the architectural style as neo-Renaissance.

The palace and some outbuildings with a park have been preserved in good condition to our time. The mill is adapted for storage.