Last weekend, the staff of the House of Printing went on a trip through the expanses of Eastern Polesie, where they saw the most valuable of the many treasures of the cultural heritage of this distinctive region of Belarus. We visited ancient Gomel, examined numerous monuments of its history and modernity, learned the names of people who glorified these lands, and also visited the amazing city of Vetka, where the traditions of the Old Believers have been preserved to this day, embodied in the incredibly subtle and colorful art of representatives of this unique phenomenon of Christian civilization.
And now for more details. The weekend tour began with an excursion “Heritage of the Vetkovo land”, where they talked about the original culture of the Vetkovo region of Belarus. The roots of the history of these places go deep into pagan times. Once upon a time, the border of ancient principalities passed in this region, where Western and eastern Slavic cultures constantly met. The Old Believers settled here in the XVII century. The excursion took place in places associated with the life, culture, customs and traditions of the Old Believers. The village of Vetka is the former largest center of the Old Believers in the Belarusian lands. A visit to the unique museum, which represents the ancient Old Believer culture, did not leave anyone indifferent. The branch was the center of attraction for the bearers of the Old Believers’ spiritual and artistic culture in the XVII-XVIII centuries.
Then Gomel is the second most populous city in Belarus, with a stunning atmosphere of peaceful tranquility. The architecture of the city deserves special attention: These are buildings built in a special tradition of wooden architecture, a pre-war building by architect Stanislav Shabunevsky, gingerbread houses of Sovetskaya Street and the oldest preserved Old Believer church in Belarus – St. Elias Church of the XVIII century. On the banks of the Sozh River, along which motor ships sail in the warmer months, the majestic Rumyantsev-Paskevich palace and park ensemble is located in the city center, where city residents and tourists enjoy spending time. The Rumyantsev-Paskevich Palace and Park Ensemble is an outstanding monument of classicism architecture of the XVIII-XIX centuries, where today a museum complex has been created, in the funds of which the richest collections of historical and art objects collected by more than one generation of these noble families are stored. During the tour, a group of tourists from the House of Printing visited the chapel-tomb, Peter and Paul Cathedral and the park itself, after which they went for a boat trip along the Sozh River. There are also many beautiful fountains in Gomel, there are three theaters, a circus, and museums.
The second day of the weekend tour began with a visit to the memorial complex “Krasny Bereg”, where the company’s employees observed a minute of silence in memory of child victims of fascism during the Great Patriotic War and laid flowers at the bronze figure of a teenage girl who greets visitors to the complex. The memorial complex “Krasny Bereg” itself consists of two parts. In the foreground is a bronze figure of a teenage girl. With her thin arms raised above her head, she seems to be defending herself from all the horrors of war. There is pain, defenselessness and helplessness on his face. The sculpture is characterized by a peculiar, dynamic plastic, its broken silhouette conveys internal tension. There is an empty classroom behind the girl. There are even rows of white desks (three rows of five desks), a letter to Katya Susanina’s father, who became the prototype of the girl’s sculpture, is completely reproduced on the black blackboard. The second part of the composition is called “The Square of the Sun”. The central image is a white sail of a paper boat, on which the names of the children are reproduced. A sailboat surrounded by children’s drawings depicted in the form of stained glass windows in white frames. The stained glass windows are based on real drawings of children made after the war in Sergei Katkov’s children’s art studio. They were provided and processed by his daughter, the artist Svetlana Katkova. In white frames there are also figurines enlarged to almost monumental sizes, sculpted from plasticine by children of the Krasnoberezhsky orphanage. Sculptor M. Petrul transformed plasticine figurines into monumental works. The memorial is divided by ray-alleys lined with colorful tiles. Every detail of the complex is allegorical and symbolic. Desks and stained glass windows for drawings are made of white concrete. The complex is located among a huge apple orchard, with young trees planted around.
The memorial is based on the events of 1944. This monument of sorrow is dedicated to children who died during the Great Patriotic War, has no analogues and was named “Children’s Khatyn”. The author is Leonid Levin, Honored Architect of the Republic of Belarus, winner of the Lenin Prize. The story itself, which is the basis of the composition, is amazing, and how it is expressed creatively. The first thing you pay attention to when approaching the memorial is a bronze figure of a teenage girl, thin as a reed, with twig arms. Her prototype was a 15-year-old schoolgirl, a native of these places, Katya Susanina, who was hijacked to work in Germany during the Great Patriotic War and could not stand slave labor and bullying. However, the girl’s letter to the Red Army father was destined to break free. And today it serves as a documentary evidence of the despair and horror experienced by Katya and her peers who became victims of the war. In the memorial complex, the girl’s letter is completely reproduced on a black blackboard in a metaphorical “dead classroom” with fifteen desks. They could have been followed, but boys and girls aged 8 to 14 years old, forcibly selected from their mothers from Zhlobinsky, Rogachevsky, Dobrushsky districts and taken to the assembly point of the uchkhoz on the territory of the Red Coast, did not sit down. After the examination, the children were taken to Germany as donors for wounded Wehrmacht soldiers. According to the documents, a total of 1990 children were taken out of the assembly point. The surnames of 15 children from the Krasnoberezhsky village Council have been established. They are reproduced on a white sailboat, symbolizing childhood dreams and daydreams, in the second part of the sculptural composition called “The Square of the Sun”. The sailboat is surrounded by stained glass windows with children’s drawings made immediately after the war. The memorial is especially impressive from a bird’s-eye view, from where the entire panorama is visible, the rays are alleys lined with tiles of different colors.
Next, visit the estate of Lieutenant General Gatovsky, whose architecture surprisingly combines the features of Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Gothic. Numerous mansard roofs, pointed spikes, dormer windows, bay windows and turrets make it especially elegant and pleasing to the eye. In addition, some outbuildings, in particular the brovar, have been preserved on the territory of the palace. A tour of the palace complex, as well as walks through a small cozy square – a monument of landscape art of the XIX century, adjacent to the estate on the north side impressed tourists from the House of Printing.
The final destination in the eventful weekend tour was a visit to the beautifully preserved Bulgakov Palace and Park complex. At the beginning of the XIX century, the Bulgak family became the owner of these lands. The estate was inherited by Ignat-Kazimir Bulgak, the first owner. He began the construction of the palace in 1823, who dreamed of seeing the final version of it during his lifetime, but died before that moment. He was married twice and had 9 children, among them was the heir – the youngest son Edgar. Edgar was not married and had no heirs, preferred rest and in 1914, leaving for Western Europe, sold the estate to his nephew Emmanuel. Emmanuel lived here for only three months, the First World War and the Revolution forced him to immigrate to the West after Edgar. The palace itself is designed in the classical style. The interior of many rooms on the ground floor is distinguished by the richness of decorative design and thoroughness of decoration. Many details are made of wood, the walls of some halls have original stuccoed polychrome decorations. In addition, it was pleasant to walk around the vast park, look at the original outbuildings, admire the picturesque ponds formed by the Dobosna River flowing through the park.
The labor collective of the Press House expresses gratitude to the management and the trade union committee of the enterprise for organizing a tourist trip, inexpressible emotions, vivid memorable shots for memory, revealing the tourist potential of the country and having a great time with colleagues. He is looking forward to new trips to our blue-eyed country with great impatience!
