Just an hour's drive from Odesa, there is an amazing place that seems to have come to us from the pages of a fairy tale. For some reason, people do not know him very well and it is necessary to fix it!
After all, this is a unique estate, which is almost 200 years old and has an interesting history, architecture, and legend. Meet! Kurisovsky castle, although the owners themselves once called it Pokrovsky.
Castle history
The palace was built in two stages: the eastern part - in 1810-1820 by an unknown architect, the western - in 1891-1892 by the Odesa architect Tolvinski. The estate was founded by the military man Ivan Kuris, to whom lands were donated for good service. Ivan built the estate, which he named in honor of the first Orthodox church on the Turkish side - "Pokrovskoe".
The castle was built from local shell rock. On the territory, there was a park, a utility building, a well as a small Intercession Church. Almost everything has survived to this day, only the park has lost many of its original elements. The look in which the estate has survived to this day was probably acquired thanks to the grandson of Kuris.
Even in Soviet times, the restoration of the castle was planned, but something went wrong. Fortunately, in 2014 it was bought by entrepreneur Valery Kondratyuk and began to arrange the building. The owner of the architectural monument added that the relatively low rate of restoration work is related to the state of the castle. After all, it is necessary to do everything as carefully as possible.
Architecture of the Kuris Palace
The building resembles a medieval castle, which is built in an eclectic style, its decor uses elements of Gothic, Moorish, and Renaissance styles. The architecture of the palace is characterized by round and conical shapes, on the roofs are meteorological instruments for measuring wind direction.
At the end of the palace are arched entrances, framed by platbands. The castle has different sizes of terraces with a smooth semicircular protrusion. On both sides of the terraces are rounded mirrored stairs. Steps lead to the English park on the west side of the estate.
The windows of the palace have a rectangular shape with a smooth circular transition. The walls are embossed, decorated with teeth in the form of a shamrock. From the main entrance, you can get to the huge main hall. It is special because it has no windows. The hall illuminates the upper light, complements the interior with quadrangular half-columns and neat painting.
A semicircular staircase leads to the large terrace of the west wall on two sides. At the very top of which is clearly visible the coat of arms, skillfully made of stone, on it is dressed in armor the hand of a knight holding a laurel branch, and below the clear letters of the motto proclaim "Let there be the truth!".
By the way, these sculptures are not directly related to the palace itself, since they are from the facade of the Odesa Opera and Ballet Theater. They were dismantled from the upper tier of the theater in the early 2000s and replaced with lighter polystyrene copies.
Contribution of the Kuris family
Kurisov provided the village with a hospital, built a hotel and a drinking house, and a post office with a telegraph. So that during the field season, locals could work all day without worrying about children, Kurisov created a nursery.
Ivan Iraklievich Kuris continued the improvement of the Kurisov family estate. A new western part was added to the old part of the castle, which housed a magnificent library with about 20,000 volumes, a collection of paintings and engravings. No less unique was the archeological collection of Kuris, which included: a collection of Greek amphorae, a good selection of coins. Ivan Kuris donated many things from his collection to the Museum of the Odesa Union and Antiquities.
The unique contribution, which consisted of 21 items, was made to the museum after the death of Kuris by his wife Lyubov Ivanovna Kuris. The Odesa Historical and Local History Museum keep Suvorov's sword, his own weapon, which was also donated by Ivan Irakliyovych to the Union Museum and which he inherited from his grandfather. At present, five books from the 20,000-strong collection of Kuris are stored in the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books of the Odesa OUNB by Hrushevsky.
However, in the twentieth century, the unique manuscripts and collections of books of the Kuris family were lost. After the October Revolution, the Kurisov estate was looted, and the remains of the landowners were thrown out of the family crypt into the field.
Where can I find the Kuris Palace?
Kuris Palace is located in the village of Kurisovo, Berezovsky district, Odesa region
The exact GPS coordinates are 46.964711, 30.965387
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