The former Radziwill Palace in Belarus, which has long stood abandoned, was sold at auction for a symbolic sum of 90 rubles. The buyer is Tatyana, a Russian woman who now lives in Minsk. She says that owning her own palace was her childhood dream, and now she wants to restore it and make it accessible to people.
It is believed that the stone building was erected around 1751 by representatives of the Radziwill family. At various times, the building was rebuilt, changed owners, and suffered destruction. It was severely damaged during wars.
The palace has housed a school, a hospital, an orphanage, and a dentistry, which operated there until 2010. After that, the building became empty and gradually began to decay.
The palace was repeatedly attempted to be sold, starting in 2015, but no buyers were found. One person bought it for a small sum in 2022 but failed to fulfill the restoration obligations, and the building was returned to the state. It is necessary to preserve the monument and put it into operation within five years. The restoration requires significant funds and the participation of specialists, as it is a historical and cultural heritage site.
Initially, Tatyana plans to renovate part of the building—the entrance, corridor, and one of the halls—to open them to visitors. Excursions will be conducted jointly with the local museum. Other restoration work will be carried out in parallel.
Afterwards, Tatyana is considering various options for using the palace: creating a cafe, a small hotel, exhibition halls, and organizing tours and interactive events.
There are ideas to use the cellars for tasting areas or a kitchen, as well as to landscape the surrounding area—plant a garden, install gazebos, and hold events there, such as wedding ceremonies.
She also does not rule out the possibility of living in a part of the palace in the future. Overall, according to her, she perceives this project as a personal mission—to bring a historical object back to life and make it useful and interesting for people.
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