Restoration or surface decoration?



Last years one can observe the process of improvement works in cities. The same is with towns and places of Grodno land.

Restoration or surface decoration?
Last years one can observe the process of improvement works in cities. The same is with towns and places of Grodno land. This picture became habitual: broken old asphalt and sidewalks, excavated borders and the new paving slab lying accurately in piles ready for lying; knocked down and cut into logs roadside trees; uniform concrete fence instead of patchy wooden ones along the roads. During the reconstruction works the fronts of old houses, which showed us previous epochs, were changed enormously. Wooden frames of the windows were changed to standard plastic ones; the roofs are covered with metal tile of prevailing bright red and navy blue colors, which frequently doesn’t fit the general plan of the constructions.
Such improvement works also affected Bolshaya Berestovitsa – a small town, 50 km south from Grodno and 10 km east from Poland. One must mention that this small town is the smallest region centre (according to the population and the territory) in Grodno region. There are no enterprises except of creamery and poultry farm. In all times Berestovitsa was attracting people with its coziness, clear water and air.
In 2006 the inhabitants of the town celebrated 500th anniversary of its foundation. In August festive events devoted to this date took place on the central square. Naturally, the appearance of the town was put to rights. The author of the article is not against of such actions, he even approves them, but one should pay attention to the row of significant issues connected with these improvements. Lately with the surface improvements little attention is paid to the restoration and conservation of monuments of culture and architecture.
One should recollect the Catholic Church of Virgin Mary, which stands in the central square of Berestovitsa and is seen from every direction when entering the town. Once it was the most significant churches on the territory of the Great Duchy of Lithuania. The church was built in 1615 by the representatives of the well-known magnate family of the Khadkevichs. Long ago the heart of the great commander and politician of the Great Duchy of Lithuania hetman Jan Karol Khadkevich was resting in the sarcophagus of the church’s crypt. In the beginning of the 1990s the roof of the temple was destroyed and the walls began to ruin rapidly afterwards. It’s clear that the means of the local budget and offerings of church are not enough to reconstruct the temple but one can try to find means for the conservation of walls from the destruction.
When improving the central street the two side stone columns of the former manor of the owners of Berestovitsa earls the Korvin-Kosakovskys were ruined. The earls gave money in 1912 to build the new brick and stone church for the church people of the town and nearest villages. It’s serving the parish now. Fortunately, the other two columns, which duplicate the first couple in 150 meters weren’t destroyed. In fact it’s the only remained witnesses of the whole architectural ensemble of the manor. The main palace was destroyed during the World War II. And now there’s a regional hospital on this place.
In last dozens of years gradually all household buildings of the former manor complex were destroyed: barn, smithery, warehouses, stables, etc. The destiny of the linden, chestnut and maple alleys, which were laid to the different sides from the manor, is sad. The regular English style park and the green space, which separated the manor from the pool thinned out. In soviet times the inhabitants of the town were given pieces of park land for garages and sheds. Now it resembles a dump, though earlier it was planted with rare species of trees. Hips of rubbish, dung and scrap metal are lying in many places. Nobody cares about the park and the remained trees live their last years. The same as the walls of the old church, which is still the highlight of Berestovitsa. The old church needs repair but the government seems to ignore real restoration of the architectural monuments concentrating on the surface decorations of Potemkin Villages.

Kazimir Vitka.