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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Oginski estate restoration nearing completion

Oginski estate

The 19th century Oginski family estate in Zalesye, Smorgon District, is scheduled to reopen at the end of September once its restorations are complete.

Renovations began in 2011, and the project has seen more than $262,000 invested under the Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus program. Approximately $2.4 million has come from national and regional budgets.

Gennady Bychko, deputy chairman of the Smorgon District Executive Committee, said the goal is for the estate to look like it did at the time of its owner, diplomat and composer Michal Kleofas Oginski.

To restore the estate, a team of researchers and designers used historical, archival and bibliographical research, including descriptions in memoirs of contemporaries and an engraving by Napoleon Orda.

Updates include a new roof, windows and doors, as well as interior restorations, and the addition of a museum, greenhouses, guest rooms, a staff office and a theater hall.

The estate is anticipated to be a tourist spot and cultural complex.