The most famous ghost of the city of Minsk!
“White Dame”
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Photo credit: http://www.anywalls.com/
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What is a ghost?
Some declare that ghosts are a mirage, illusion or a play of light. Others say that ghosts exist and appear when some people are killed violently or poisoned, or when they are buried not according to a particular established ritual. That’s why the souls of these dead people can not leave this world, the Earth…
Sometimes spirits indicates people the places of their death. There are beliefs that any spirit will disappear forever as soon as its body is buried according to all the proper church rituals.
More often people meet ghosts in cemeteries, in abandoned houses, on bridges, or at crossroads.
The White Albion or England is considered to be a country record-holder of having a large amount of various ghost and spirits which haunt English castles. Even special road signs exist in England saying the following: “Be Aware of Ghosts!”.
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Photo credit: http://animalsontheroad.blogspot.ru/
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However, England is not the only country record-holder of having its ghosts and spirits, the country of Belarus can be also included into this list. As Belarus is famous for its ghosts too which haunt its castles and palaces.
You can get acquainted with one of the most legendary Belarusian ghosts, known as “Black Dame” by reading our previous Blogger Lens “The most mysterious spirit of Belarus – “Black Dame”.
In our today’s Blogger Lens we’ll continue talking on this interesting and mysterious phenomenon and we’ll tell you about some other Belarusian spirit that exists in the capital of Minsk, in Belarus. There will be also an opportunity for you to see the photos on which we managed to capture the ghost of Minsk.
The Loshica Estate in Minsk
The most mysterious ghost of Minsk lives in a very picturesque place – in the Loshica Estate. This estate with its beautiful and big park is one of the most fascinating and enigmatic places in the city of Minsk that is covered with different legends. Not far away from the estate there is an ancient location which dates back to the 10th century, and the materials of excavations in this place show that the place Loshica came into existence at the same time when Minsk was founded. By the way, the city of Minsk was established in 1067.
The 1st estate appeared in Loshica in the middle of the 16th century. It was a favorite place to visit of one of the Belarusian writers – Vincent Dunin-Marcinkevich who mentioned about the Loshica Estate in his works many times. The famous Polish artist – Uzef Peshka, who lived in the city of Minsk at the beginning of the 19th century, captured the Loshica Estate at his picture.
However, the Loshica Estate was flourishing at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries when it belonged to Evstafiy Lubanskiy who was one of the most successful and noble men in Minsk Province.
Evstafiy Lubanskiy was a well-educated and well-cultured man who loved new innovations of science and technology. In the Loshica Estate a distillery and two water mills were built.
Evstafiy Lubanskiy together with his young wife – Yadviga Lubanskaya reconstructed the Loshica Estate according to the architecture fashion of that time. Each room was designed in different styles. The English style was chosen for the Loshica Estate lobby. The Pompeian murals were made in the corridor and the stair-case. The dining-room and the library had elements of the Renaissance style. All the living-rooms were made in the Rococo style. A big collection of tiled stoves played a great role in the interior. They decorated also the estate interior with pictures of famous artists which had been brought there while traveling around Europe. They also created the riches library in Minsk Province. Evstafiy and Yadviga organized grand balls and meetings in their estate all the time and took an active part in charity.
The owner of the estate, Evstafiy Lubanskiy had a wide range of interests. In summer tracks near the estate were turned into arrears for performance of Minsk cyclists whose community was headed by Evstafiy Lubanskiy.
Except the mentioned hobby, the owner of Loshica Estate had enriched the local park, where later unique experiments on hybridization of different woody plants were carried out. He ordered the 1st seedlings from various countries. That’s why nowadays here it is possible to see Manchurian walnut trees, mountain and Crimean pine-trees, Siberian fur-trees, magnolia trees. They say that Evstafiy Lubanskiy brought a Kobus magnolia tree from Japan especially for his wife.
Evstafiy Lubanskiy together with his young wife – Yadviga Lubanskaya reconstructed the Loshica Estate according to the architecture fashion of that time. Each room was designed in different styles. The English style was chosen for the Loshica Estate lobby. The Pompeian murals were made in the corridor and the stair-case. The dining-room and the library had elements of the Renaissance style. All the living-rooms were made in the Rococo style. A big collection of tiled stoves played a great role in the interior. They decorated also the estate interior with pictures of famous artists which had been brought there while traveling around Europe. They also created the riches library in Minsk Province. Evstafiy and Yadviga organized grand balls and meetings in their estate all the time and took an active part in charity.
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| The Distillery in the Loshica Estate |
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| The ruins of the water mills in the Loshica Estate |
The Spirit of Yadviga Lubanskaya or "White Dame"
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Photo credit: http://hard-candy-csc.livejournal.com/
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Evstafiy Lubanskiy married at the age of 37 years old. His spouse became Yadviga Kinevich, who was a twenty-year-old daughter of the head of the Mozyr gentry. Yadviga was a beautiful and loving young lady who managed to ogle some other handsome men.
The owner of the Loshica Estate – Evstafiy Lubanskiy was almost twenty years older than his wife and he was mainly involved in solving economic issues and social activities. While his spouse – Yadviga Lubanskaya became a heroine of Minsk balls and receptions due to her beauty, polished manners, and erudition, those balls were organized by the aristocracy of the city of Minsk.
In 1905 the following incident happened in the Loshica Estate… Unfortunately, Yadviga Lubanskaya fell in love with a handsome man whom she had met during her birthday party. Evstafiy Lubanskiy always tried to surprise his wife and organized bright solemn celebrations and festivals due to various occasions.
They said that the man with whom Yadviga Lubanskaya had fallen in love turned out to be a Russian official, the Minsk General-Governor – Musin-Pushkin. He infatuated Yadviga a lot. Their love affair became known to all the society of Minsk, the relatives of Yadviga and her husband resented, and Yadviga’s lawful spouse was extremely indignant. Yadviga did not expect such developments. Besides, the General, Musin-Pushkin was withdrawn back to Saint-Petersburg on the eve of the revolution events of the year of 1905.
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Photo credit: http://www.liveinternet.ru/
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Two months later a tragedy took place in the Loshica Estate… One day, in the evening, perhaps after having had a quarrel, Yadviga Lubanskaya ran out of the estate and headed towards a steep river bank. Some time later after it Evstafiy Lubanskiy together with his servants went in search of his wife. They managed to find already Yadviga’s lifeless body. All the attempts to save her were unsuccessful.
They said Yadviga Lubanskaya committed a suicide because of one of the two reasons. According to the 1st version, Yadviga drowned herself in Svisloch River because they had created gossips about her love affair with the general all around the city, and she could not endure that shame.
According to some other data, Yadviga was waiting for a baby from her lover, that’s why she decided to release her spouse – Evstafiy Lubanskiy from such a shame in the following way.
The body of Yadviga was embalmed and buried in the local estate chapel, the ruins of which you can nowadays close to the main alley of the Loshica Estate.
The disconsolate spouse, Evstafiy Lubanskiy planted a Manchurian apricot tree on the place of his wife’s death. Every year there are lots of pale pink flowers which bloom in April.
Evstafiy Lubanskiy missed his wife and relived the tragedy a lot. He ordered to lay a masonry window in Yadviga’s room, left his estate and all his business, and moved to Caucasus to live where he died soon.
However, it seems that Yadviga Lubanskaya is not going to leave the Loshica possessions. They say that since her death, the spirit of Yadviga has been appeared wearing a beautiful white dress every spring during moonlit nights when the Manchurian apricot tree starts blooming. Especially the spirit of Yadviga can be seen very well, in April when there is the full Moon, from 10 to 11 pm an unusually sharp silhouette of a woman in white loose clothes appears on the background of the moon. Sometimes the spirit of Yadviga Lubanskaya can be seen soaring above the water near the confluence of Svisloch and Loshica rivers.
In our case, we captured the spirit “White Dame” in a summer sunny evening, in June 2013 while taking photo of the Loshica Estate building which was under reconstruction that time. It was a late evening time, there were no workers inside the estate, and it was locked and surrounded with a fence. At our photo you can see some white silhouette of a woman looking through a window of the Loshica Estate.
They say that Yadviga’s wandering spirit around the alleys of the Loshica Estate dislikes single men, and, on the contrary, the Spirit favors couples in love, of course, only if their love is sincere and mutual. The spirit of Yadviga can predict couples how their life together will be.
“White Dame” is considered to be the most famous spirit of the city of Minsk.
The main alley of linden trees in the Loshica Estate
The ruins of the Chapel in the Loshica Estate
In 1935 the chapel in the Loshica Estate was ruined by communists who were destroying all the religious buildings in the USSR times. They removed a lead coffin with the relics of Yadviga Lubanskaya from the family crypt, and they sent it to be remelted for some needs of the industry that time. The relics of Yadviga Lubanskaya were buried somewhere on the territory of the Loshica Estate, which were dug up and destroyed by stray animals or some people later.
The Guard's House in the Loshica Estate
The building of a wing in the Loshica Estate - Belarus
In the building of the Wing there is the Museum of the History of the City of Minsk.
The old well in the Loshica Park - Belarus
The direction arrows in the Loshica Park
The landscaped amphitheater
A mysterious backwater near the water mills
The backwater near the water mills had a bad reputation at the end of the 19th century. They said that swimming there was a certain death for young handsome men. As local mermaids hunted for them choosing grooms for themselves. However, the fair sex could swim there without any fear, as the local mermaids were absolutely neutral towards them.
The water mills in the Loshica Estate
A borderline where the last glacier stopped is also on the territory of the Loshica Estate
Historians and archaeologists discovered some more unique feature of the Loshica Park. Around 10 thousands back there was a borderline passing where the last glacier stopped. That’s why there are around 32 kinds of soil and more than 400 of various species including trees, bushes, herbs, insects, animals and birds. There is also a lot of stones.
The Loshica Park
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Photo credit: http://www.minskfoto.by/
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Near the confluence of Svisloch and Loshica rivers, on a steep bank there is a strong centuries-old oak-tree. According the existing legend, approximately in 1580 the duke Druckiy planted 3 oak-trees in honor of the betrothal of his daughter. The 1st oak-tree was considered to help the couple to love each other sincerely during their whole life. The 2nd oak-tree was thought to help them to be always healthy and strong and have healthy progeny. And the last one had to help them to have success in everything. But only one oak-tree from the three ones has preserved. And as they say it has got magic power. If you come up to it with your bare feet and bow in front of the oak-tree it will give you love, health, and creative inspiration. Even after being destroyed in a natural disaster, the oak-tree has not lost its magic power. As some years back it was bunt with a thunderbolt.
There is also a tradition to write or carve your most secret wishes on the oak-tree. Some people decorate it with colorful ribbon writing there their wishes and slipping strong knots. The ancient Slavs considered the oak-tree to be the most powerful tree spreading extremely positive energy.
The map-plan of the Loshica Estate in Minsk
1- The building of the Loshica Estate
2- The building of the Wing
3- The Chapel
4- The Distillery
5- The Water Mill
6- The Water Mill
7- The Oak-Tree of Wishes
During the 2nd World War the Loshica Estate and its monuments suffered seriously, as that time there was a residence of the Minsk regional commissar, Fraitag, not far away from the estate fascists carried out shooting of civilians. Partisans wanted to explode the Loshica Estate together with Germans. However, a bomb that had been put in one of the tiled estate stoves was fount, and the planned punitive action was spoiled.
But in spite of all the destructive events the Loshica Estate and its Park have managed to preserve their unrepeatable mysterious atmosphere which has always attracted people of art and tourists.
At the Poll!
At the Poll!
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Photo credit: http://img1.liveinternet.ru/
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What is a ghost?
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