Both the ruins of a Classicist manor house, the Classicist outbuilding and the granary dating back to the first half of the 19th century also possess a substantial artistic value. Along with the surrounding landscape park, the buildings form a picturesque and valuable landmark.

History

The name “Hieronimowo” is a reference to the name of one of the members of the Radziwiłł noble family, who owned the manor in the late 18th and early 19th century. The person in question was most likely Hieronim Wincent (who died in 1786) - the chamberlain (podkomorzy) of Lithuania, the alderman (starosta) of Mińsk, although another possibility is that the manor was named after his son and heir - Dominik Hieronim Radziwiłł (1786-1813), a colonel in the armed forces of the Duchy of Warsaw and the Napoleonic Guard and the owner of the great fee tail estates in Nieśwież and Ołyka. He died from the wounds sustained during the Battle of Hanau, where he led the battle-proven Polish squadron. The name of the manor may have been intended to commemorate the deeds of this celebrated war hero. The entire complex was erected during the late 18th and early 19th century, replacing a grange known as Nowa Wola back in the 17th century. The new owner of the complex, general Kazimierz Dziekoński (1779-1849), later ordered a comprehensive redesign of the complex. Dziekoński was a truly remarkable individual who fought in the Kościuszko Uprising, the Napoleonic Wars (receiving a golden cross and a National Order of the Legion of Honour for his wartime exploits) as well as in the November Uprising; when the latter uprising was thwarted, Dziekoński himself faced deportation to Vologda. It was he who remodelled the entire complex in the 1820s, erecting a Classicist palace and outbuilding and redesigning the surrounding greenery which became a typical landscape park as a result. He also commissioned the construction of new utility buildings, out of which only the brick and stone granary has survived to the present day. Back in his days, the general maintained a well-functioning farm here, modelled after the latest trends in agriculture and livestock breeding. In the second half of the 19th century and in the early 20th century, Hieronimowo remained in the hands of Jadwiga Olizar (by her first marriage) née Dziekońska, the general’s niece who later adopted the surname of her second husband, Aleksander Ramm. During the interwar period, the manor was owned by their successors in title. In 1939 the Russian authorities converted the manor into a sovkhoz. In the years 1941-1944, the complex remained under German administration. After 1944, the manor, which at that time was the property of Eugeniusz Ramm, was taken over by the local State Agricultural Holding (PGR). The palace and many other utility buildings were lost to the blaze in 1943 and 1945. In the years 1956-1958, the outbuilding was reconstructed, while the palace ruins were cleared of rubble and debris. In the 1970s, the former manor became the site of the Michałowo Agricultural Combine, which was then abolished in 1993. Later on, the estate was leased out to a private individual.

Description

The manor house complex in Hieronimowo is situated alongside the road leading from Topolany towards Nowa Wola, at a distance of about 4 kilometres from both villages. The ruins of the brick manor house are positioned in the middle of the complex. The Classicist outbuilding is positioned south-west of the ruins, in their immediate vicinity. This building, covered with a gable roof and featuring a two-storey central section, was designed as a brick structure, its walls covered with plaster. East of the manor house ruins and the outbuilding stretches the landscape park with a pair of ponds at the end. A brick and stone manorial granary has survived in the former grange located south-west of the outbuilding. Much like the manor house ruins and the outbuilding, the granary also dates back to the 1820s.

The site is open to visitors.

compiled by Tomasz Rogala, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Białystok, 15-12-2014.

Bibliography

• Aftanazy R., Dzieje rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczypospolitej, vol. 3, Wrocław-Warsaw-Cracow 1992, pp. 43-45.
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• Bończak-Kucharczyk E., Maroszek J., Kucharczyk K., Katalog parków i ogrodów zabytkowych dawnego województw białostockiego. Stan z 1988 r., Część szczegółowa, vol. 1, Białystok 2000, pp. 96-97.
• Dziekoński T., Gen. Kazimierz Dziekoński (1779?-1849), “Białostocczyzna”, no. 1, 1989, pp. 12-16.
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