After a great fire, the Oleriai mansion rises, like a romantic painting.

In Rūjiena County, near the Estonian border, Zemīčiai creates a charming space with his own hands. It was not and is not so easy. “If I had a specific plan on how everything should be restored, how everything should look, I would have been crazy,” says Ieva Zemītė, laughing and earnestly. “It’s just that it’s so big, it’s hard to understand it.”

Then the family gradually does everything, as they say: window after window, room after room. The restored old mansion with its striking wooden terrace blends harmoniously with the fragrant and green garden that surrounds it. The garden fed by Eve is like an image filled with various scents and romantic details.

As the couple says 15 minutesThey wanted to create a place where people just go for a walk and talk. After all, we rarely have time for that now.

After the great fire: a new era

The history of the stately home dates back to the 16th century. The current manor house and most of the other buildings were erected here in the 18th century, but a new era has only just begun in this century.

Imantas Ziedonis, one of the most famous Latvian poets, also contributed to the revival of the mansion. It is his call to preserve the country’s ancient mansions, farms, and heritage that inspired three applied arts students to embark on a grand project. The wooden sculptor Kārlis together with two expert friends decided to buy a stately home.

The trio searched for the most suitable place for a long time. They searched in the late 1970s, so one of the criteria was to keep the mansion as far away from any communist activity as possible. Even if the Soviets didn’t nail much here, and the mansion would be a little farther from the cities, surrounded by peace. They found one in Oleri.

“It just caught our eye then. We have created families, times and ideas have changed, ”says Kārlis. He bought part of the farm from a friend, another, Janis, left only one building, although he rarely visits because he lives in the UK.

Zemīčiai says a new page in the history of the mansion was opened after a huge fire that hit the entire roof of the building. Only walls and chimneys remained. “Then there was a lot of reflection and we had to decide whether to start the restoration or drop everything and go back to Rygon,” recalls Ieva.

The garden is like a fragrant image.

Still, the family decided not to give up on the idea of ​​reviving the mansion, only to do everything gradually. “First of all, we thought about starting a garden, because we don’t need as much investment, we don’t need a roof,” Ieva jokingly says.

Now, a large romantic garden with powerful trees and lush plants is an attraction for tourists. Also included in the Latvian-Estonian set garden pearls project, which requires traveling through the most beautiful private and public gardens in these countries.

Inspired by the grandeur and layout of the English gardens, the Zemīčiai wanted to establish a garden that would be like a walk through the mansion. The main meadow is like a living room. From there, you can enter other rooms, for example, the kitchen, a spice garden, and edible plants. It is carefully maintained, infinitely aesthetic. “It has to be practical, but also beautiful”, explains Ieva about the principles of the “garden” (“potager”). “Such a garden should feed not only the stomach, but also the eyes.”

It was very important for Eve, who runs the garden, to maintain its authenticity. Because the immediately striking wooden portico of the stately home has survived since the 19th century. in the middle, so she wants the garden to reflect that time, too. The time when landscaped gardens were enriched with new plants, when Asian vegetation came to Europe. “Back then, plant collections were a great asset,” says Ieva. “The plants were proud as jewels.”

The plants planted here are also extraordinary, they also come from other historical mansions. “Each plant is a separate story,” says the hostess. She revealed that the country’s castles and mansions share seeds, trying to preserve the ancient species that they cherished so much.

In the garden fed by Eva, all the senses come alive. The romantic landscape of lush greenery and ancient palaces is striking. The nose is full of new smells, which are very important here: by planting plants, the hostess plans to reveal new scents as people walk.

The birds are singing and the grazing of sheep raised by Zemīčiai can be seen from afar. In the “Kitchen Garden”, Ieva also hints at the crumbs of ancient ceramic dishes, which she found while working. “I’ve found a lot of interesting things here, I already have a full box of such finds. I just haven’t found the gold treasure yet,” he laughs.

A stone that has puzzled scientists for a long time

The area around the mansion is huge, wooded, here you can stroll from one side of the garden to the other for a long time, and from one “room” to the other. There are roller coasters and a sprouted romantic gazebo for tea and snacks, with a swing between the rings.

Through the “corridor”, the alley of old trees, it is possible to walk to the Japanese garden, which is still being built, where large stones have already been placed in the old Oleriai lake, which has been turned into a swamp. Before creating this garden, the couple went to Japan to better understand the principles of creating that landscape.

“I was very impressed by the order and precision there,” recalls Ieva. – We were only ridiculed that after a short detour from the main roads, we saw women walking with grass and tongs. But it also shows that if you want a beautiful garden, you have to work hard. “

Through the pass, the hosts also lead to an exclusive stone with signs of runes. This XIX century. The stone found in the ruins did not give scientists even peace for many years, since the rune signs found on it meant that it was the oldest stone found.

The best Scandinavian rune experts tried to read what was written on the stone, it was abundantly photographed by students who also tried to unravel its mystery. It is interesting that there are no surviving photos of the mansion of the time, but a lot of stone.

After seven years of speculation, the landowner admitted to everyone’s surprise that the stone was a fake. He saw 3 rune stones from Sweden brought to the exhibition in Paris, copied the notes and, on his return, ordered a teacher to create something similar. Just because the signs weren’t exactly copied and carved in stone, no one could read them.

“Scientists were angry at first! Kārlis said.” Only later did they think, or perhaps even when the truth became clear, it is an interesting story. “Latvian professor Juris Urtanis says the stone is a strange witness to the human activity and understanding of culture in the 19th century, so you must be protected.

The treasures were discovered after the fire.

Little by little, window after window, room after room, the manor house is being restored. The work here doesn’t stop even when the guests arrive: the hosts warn that the windowsills have just been painted and must be observed underfoot.

In one of the restored rooms, decorated with field flowers, a couple displays photos of the mansion. Looking at the photos of the flames that envelop the entire roof of the building, one can only admire the hosts who did not surrender even after such a disaster.

Still, there are hardly any old photos or drawings of what the mansion looked like before. There is only one photograph and one drawing from 1911, only more is known about the design from the years the school operated here after the expropriation during the Soviet occupation.

It could be a great challenge for a couple who appreciates authenticity and cultural heritage, but working in such a house is also a joy to discover. Even the calamity, the great fire, revealed what wealth was under the plaster. Ancient drawings on the walls, frescoes were discovered. Because of them, the Oleriai mansion even received the status of a national art monument.

Even without knowing what the interior of the mansion was like before, the couple is trying to make it as authentic as possible. Since few new possible materials are used, the details of other mansions are revived, for example, even the grand staircases were given away from another mansion that no longer exists.

The family with three children now lives in a building next to the manor house, and does not want to predict when they will be able to move to a new building after the reconstruction. But they also promise to provide space here for guests who can rent a room and feel at least partially the romance of Oleri Manor.

Guests are still welcome, albeit without accommodation. It is possible to book excursions, to arrive independently for a symbolic fee to take a walk in the garden. The family also organizes many events, from classical music concerts to catering classes.

All information about gardening. You will find it here.

15 minutes after the Latvian and Estonian gardens he traveled by invitation of the Garden Pearl program. The content of the article is not affected.