How to attract tourists with the remains of the ruined castle?

at the photo: Ruzhany Palace in Ruzhany village, Pruzhany Raion, Brest Voblast. Photo by "EuroBelarus" Information Service

Why do locals have almost no influence on the fate of castles in Belarus? Why is it so that many castles don’t belong to the local authorities?

On December 15 in Minsk a round table “Castles of Belarus”: the course of realization and perspectives of state program” took place.

During the round table the results of the public monitoring “Castles of Belarus” were presented. The monitoring was performed by the research group lead by Stsiapan Stureika, a historian and culture anthropologist, EHU teacher with the support of the International Consortium “EuroBelarus”.

Most castles in our country are now ruined. How should we perceive these ruins? The researchers believe that the Belarusan state gave one of the important answers to this question when in January ratified the program “Castles of Belarus” for 2012-2018.

This state program is ambitious and covers 14 ruins and 19 archeological objects. Although the ruins started changing noticeably, the quality and intensity of this program’s realization arouses reasonable criticism of the experts.

The research was aimed at monitoring of the state program’s realization as well as evaluation of preconditions and defining terms for activation of social part in castles’ restoration.

The research consisted of three important elements: analysis of the information field regarding castles’ restoration, interview with architects and research supervisors as well as expeditions to near-castle settlements.

Several expeditions were organized – to Halshany, Kreva, Byhau, Smaliany, Navahrudak, Liubcha, Kamianets, and Ryzhany.

The researchers were meeting with the representatives of local executive authorities, as well as with people who have active civil stand regarding castles and local cultural heritage – businessmen, journalists, NGO activists, and students of local lore.

The researchers were trying to answer a number of questions. How much are local people involved in castles’ functioning? Are they interested in such participation themselves? What is the stance of the local authorities towards castles? How do they prioritize restoration? What image of castles do local citizens have, what do they know about its role in history and in present times? And, finally, what influence do local communities exert on the way the castles change, and what conflicts does reconstruction of architectural legacy evoke?

The results of the research demonstrated that if both social and architectural parts of restoration are present, the castle could really become the initiator of change in enhancing the quality of life in the city.

The most alarming result of the research is that the local communities are basically excluded from participation in the fate of castles, and project decisions are made and approved in large cities.

A number of restoration projects disrupt habitual bonds between local citizens and their legacy.

Integral restoration of something that was lost is basically the only way of dialog about legacy in Belarus, whereas preservation and restoration of the material form might destroy the cultural value.

The actions of the restorers shouldn’t make a museum out of a castle.

The researchers find it more important to keep on and translate the local memory and identity rather than propagating the museum standard.

Besides, it is also important to define the main customers of the restored object, as defining the customer as the whole Belarusan nation is a very unsuccessful example.

The researchers see high efficiency in establishing community centers in castles and nearby territories where lost or new bonds between the community and cultural and historical past would be restored.

The presentation was followed by the public discussion with the participation of Culture Ministry representatives, restorers, members of Belarusan museums and local executive committees, as well as owners of agricultural manors, and citizens of near-castle territories.