Zalesye, Oginsky estate

Story

The Oginski family became the owner of Zalesye in the first half of the 18th century. The estate was successively owned by Martian Mikhail Oginski, his son Tadeusz Franciszek Oginski, and the latter's son Franciszek Ksawery Oginski. After the death of Frantisek Xavier, Zalesie passed to his nephew Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky. The estate in the 18th century consisted of a wooden palace and several outbuildings.

After the defeat of the Kosciuszko uprising and the amnesty announced by the authorities, Mikhail Oginsky, who took part in the uprising, returned to the Russian Empire in 1802 and settled in the Zalesye estate, where he began construction of a new estate with a stone palace. Oginsky lived permanently in Zalesye until 1810, and lived here periodically from 1810 to 1823.

Over the 20 years of living in the estate of Mikhail Kleofas, Zalesye acquired the fame of “Northern Athens”, becoming a cultural center where the best minds of their time gathered. The estate constantly hosted art exhibitions, balls, literary readings and musical evenings. Many famous political and cultural figures came to relax at the estate. The popularity of the estate was facilitated not only by the hospitality of the owner, but also by the favorable location of Zalesye on the road from Minsk to Vilna and from St. Petersburg to Warsaw. Some historians believe that it was here that the famous polonaise “Farewell to the Motherland” was written and first performed.

In 2011, a major restoration of the estate began; the Oginski Palace, after restoration, was inaugurated on September 26, 2014. Since 2015, work has been carried out in the park complex and outbuildings, and was completed by September 25, 2015, the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Oginsky. After restoration, the estate became a museum and cultural center.

Museum exposition

The exposition of the museum-estate of M. K. Oginski is represented by 13 halls, in which visitors can get acquainted with the life and work of the talented composer and statesman Michal Kleofas Oginski. The “Music of Oginsky” hall will interest guests of the estate with musical instruments of the 19th century and will allow them to plunge into the musical atmosphere that reigned in this estate during Oginsky’s life. In the “Fireplace Hall”, visitors will see a gallery of portraits of the Oginsky family, and the exhibition “The Cabinet of M. K. Oginsky” will tell about the state activities of the famous politician and diplomat Oginsky. Exposition of the hall “Greenhouse. Temporary exhibitions" demonstrates the variety of exotic plants of the tropics and subtropics that grew on the Oginsky estate in the 19th century and introduces visitors to the works of artists. Hall “Greenhouse. The Coffee House is the composer’s famous summer dining room, where he often received his guests. Now there is a coffee shop in this greenhouse, where museum visitors can drink a cup of coffee, tea and relax.

The tour of the estate is a fascinating costume show with the participation of various characters from the life of the owner of the estate.

Park area

Near the palace, a park was laid out in the “English style”, which has a landscape character with intersected picturesque terrain near the river floodplain. In the past there were small architectural forms (chapels, pavilions, gazebos, bridges, a water mill). A number of them have survived to this day, but almost all were rebuilt and restored in the 20th century. The pavilions in Greek and Asian styles, as well as the remains of a water mill, look picturesque. Near a small river there is a boulder with a memorial inscription carved on it in honor of Mikhail Oginsky’s teacher, Jean Rolet. Also in the park you can find a boulder with a memorial inscription in honor of Tadeusz Kosciuszko.