Greetings, local guides !!!
My post is a response to #TeamChallenge ‘Showcase your country’ by @ermest from #TeamBelarus.
Today I want to tell you about the noble family of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and their ️family estate, the thought of which makes me dizzy and knees are shaking. So, I will tell you about the noble family Radziwiłł and their family estate Niaśviž. You can say: ‘I do not know the Radziwiłłs, I hear about them for the first time.’ And I tell you in response the following. Have you ever been to Berlin on Wilhelmstraße 77? So, on the site of this building once stood the Radziwiłł Palace, which later became the Reich Chancellery(the palace was destroyed during the 2nd World War). A representative of this family, Prince Antoni Henryk Radziwiłł, was the lieutenant general of the Prussian army, and his son Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolai Pavel Radziwiłł was the infantry general of the Prussian army. Or one more thing. Did you know that Stanisłav Albrecht Radziwiłł was John F. Kennedy’s brother-in-law?(Stanisłav Albrecht Radziwiłł and John F. Kennedy married two sisters Caroline Lee Bouvier and Jacqueline Bouvier.) As you can see, the Radziwiłł family is known not only in Belarus, but throughout the world.
And who are the Radziwiłłs? The uncrowned rulers of the Belarusian lands, intermarried with all the royal courts of Europe, the gray cardinals, who turned to for advice for any intrigues and political decisions. There are still legends about the Black lady of Niaśviž and about how the inhabitants of the castle rode in the summer on bears harnessed to a sled over ? salt-strewn ground.(Salt was insanely expensive in the 18th century.)
What can I say about the city of Niaśviž and the castle? Niaśvižski pałac along with the Kaścioł Božaha Cieła are included in the list of World Heritage sites UNESCO. When I first came to ???Stockholm and saw the local architecture, I thought that it reminded me something. Just look at these yellow buildings with black roofs and sharp spiers or here on these ocher walls with a gray ornament on the side !!!
Niaśvižski pałac was built in the late 16th century by the architect Giovanni Maria Bernardoni. Today there is a ball hall, a fireplace hall, a dining room, a hetman hall, a theater hall, a small conference hall, a library and others. The stucco ceiling is covered with gilding and painting. The hunting room is covered with a ? bear skin, decorated with deer horns, a stuffed bear and stuffed capercaillies. The halls have ceramic and earthenware furnaces with heraldic images. The furnaces tile was thrown into the trash, but it was found by archaeologists and resumed. Personally, I was struck by the beauty and variety of chandeliers and candlesticks.
The Radziwiłłs owned impressive forest areas. William II the future Prussian emperor came to hunt in Niaśviž. Subsequently, he returned to Berlin with cubs bears for the Berlin Zoo. And now, surrounded by the castle are excellent parks.
What are the treasures of this castle? Of course, this is an art gallery with portraits of family representatives, a rich library, expensive furniture, and a collection of weapons. But the most expensive treasure were the 12 apostles, poured in full growth of pure gold. These 12 apostles mysteriously disappeared before the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte and have not yet been found. There is a legend that these golden apostles are hidden in the underground passages of the castle. And this legend was the reason for the search for both black diggers and professional archaeologists. But no one was lucky. To intangible wealth, I would classify the theater, ballet troupe and symphony orchestra that existed in the 18th century.
As I said earlier, along with the Niaśvižski pałac, the Kaścioł Božaha Cieła is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. So what is unusual and surprising is fraught with the Kaścioł Božaha Cieła? To begin with, this church is the first in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth(Belarus was then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) baroque church. And the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the second country in the world where a baroque church was built. The basis of the project, albeit with significant changes, was taken to the layout of the Church of the Gesù in Rome. So, in the semi-basement of this church is a crypt (the family tomb of the Radziwiłł clan). It contains 70 sarcophagi with mummies of deceased family members. This is the third crypt in Europe by the number of mummies(the first in Europe by the number of mummies is the Habsburg crypt in Vienna, the second by the number of mummies is the Bourbon crypt in Paris). In 1953, a secret commission of two representatives of the Mausoleum and two microbiologists was sent from Moscow to Niaśviž. The task that was set before them was to establish the composition that was used for embalming.(Joseph Stalin died in March 1953.)
What is now in the castle? In Soviet times, the owners of the castle were forced to leave their estate. For a while, the Niaśvižski pałac was desolate, then a sanatorium was located in its walls. Personally, I remember this castle before the restoration. It was then in a terrible state !!! Now it is restored and open to receive guests. Former residents of the castle and representatives of the clan are scattered around ? the world. Someone lives in Australia, someone in Italy, France, Great Britain, Poland, the USA. One of the most famous representatives of the genus Maciej Radziwiłł lives in Poland. He came to Belarus to present his own collection of portraits, medals, art fabrics related to the fate of his family members. In 2009, Elžbieta Radziwiłł visited Belarus. Elžbieta Radziwiłł is 101 years old and lives in Warsaw !!!
Personally, I dream of the return of the Radziwiłłs to Belarus for permanent residence. Well, I will be glad to see you, dear local guides, among ? the visitors of this castle !!!
