The Butrimovich Palace
The beautiful biulding with antique terraces on side wings and five high stairs, facing the river in the past is called here The Butrimovich Palace.
The owner of the Palace was Mateusz Butrimovich (1745-1814), an active Polessye public person, reformer, town judge, Lithuanian Tribunal deputy. Being a patriot of Polessye he played a significant role in economic development of the region, swamps irrigation engineering, building Oginsky (1767-1783) and Korolevsky (Royal) (1775-1783) water channels making Pinsk an international port-town.
As soon as Korolevsky (Royal) channel connected the rivers Pina and Mukhavets M. Butrimovich appointed a fleet (“Polessye fleet”) for a trip to Gdansk through Warsaw in order to display Polessye goods in Europe. The fleet made the greatest impression on Warsaw. People rushed to the embankment to see the Polessye fleet.
The foundation of the Palace was held on September 9, 1784. Stanisіaw August Poniatowski put the first stone into its foundation. The Palace was designed by K. Schildhaus and had being built for 10 years. The frontage is decorated with columns and semi-columns. Early classicism and Barocco joined here.
The three Polessye clans - the Butrimovichs, the Ordas and the Skirmunts owned the Palace by turns. Matheusz’s daughter Jozefina married Michal Orda and Matheusz’s granddaughter called Hortenzia married Alexander Skirmunt. Napoleon Orda , M. Butrimovich’s grandson, lived here for a long time. Being a painter, musician, composer and pedagogue he travelled round his native region creating wonderful romantic and photography-like paintings. The Butrimovich Palace became the place of collection of his artistic heritage. The last owner of the Palace Konstancja Skirmunt (1851-1933) gave 971 paintings by Napoleon Orda to Krakow Museum and saved them this way from fire burned the Palace in 1901.
Hortenzia’s daughter called Helena (1827-1874) left her imprint on history being a talented sculptor, and granddaughter Konstancja (1852-1833) was a writer and historian known as the author of three-volume The Grand Duchy of Lithuania History.
After a hotel complex was built near the Palace in 20th century a stable and unique irrigation system that had been taking away ground waters from the foundation for 150 years, was destroyed.
In course of Soviet times the Palace served as children cinema and Pioneer Palace. In 2009 a 2-year reconstruction was finished and the Palace became the town Wedding Rooms.
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