By the roads of Mykolaivshchyna By the roads of Mykolaivshchyna | Page 18

In 1840, Stanislaw Skarbek set up the
“Charitable Institute for Orphans and
the Poor” at his palace. The institution
got official approval on August 1st, 1843.
This beautiful building was supposed to
become an abode for all the homeless
children. The inmates of the institution
represented different nationalities but the
instruction was conducted in Polish in
a strict Catholic spirit. Apart from
general knowledge, children acquired
practical skills: girls learnt gardening,
cooking, and sewing; whereas boys
mastered different types of crafts as well
as making gorilka. On the whole, the
orphanage became home for 250 boys
and 150 girls.
Also, the palace of Skarbek sheltered
about 600 elderly people. In order to
arrange the dwelling place from them,
the count had sell the theatre building
in Lviv, the zoo, three small towns, and
28 villages.
Mostly, the teachers of the institute
were Poles; however, there were also
Ukrainians. Among them was Denys
Sichynsky, who later became a composer
of genius. In 1888, a young graduate of
the conservatory was accepted to Zaklad
to the position of a music teacher under
the recommendation of a well-know
professor W. Wszelaczynsky. Sichynsky
taught children to sing as well as to play
different music instruments. In 1896, he
set up a brass band at the Institute, and
during the next two years, served there
as a bandmaster. 10 years of his work at
that establishment became known in
his biography as Zaklad period, during
which he wrote the cantata The Dnie-

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per Roars (lyrics by Borys Grinchenko)
(1892), the march Sahaidachny (1894),
Check Polka, miniatures for piano, and
adaptations of folk songs.
As early as the beginning of the 20th
century, in one of the guidebooks, Zaklad
was referred to as “exemplary structure”,
which could be visited at Director’ special
permission only. But in the year 1939,
soon after the “liberation” of Western
Ukraine, the burial place of Skarbek in
the forest park (now called the forest of
Zaklad) was dug out by looters for the
first time. Later, other burials at the small
cemetery were destroyed by fighters
against religion. Also, the main building
of the palace suffered a lot in during the
bombardments of World War II as well
as in the course of post-war alterations.
In 1941, Soviet authorities set up
their own shelter at the former institute
building, which later was converted into
the prison of the NKVD. And in 1984,
Mykolaiv Covict Establishment No 50
was established at that place.
The count laid down the beautiful
park, which used to surround the palace;
even now, its fragments, which managed
to survive, please the eye. The real pearl
of the present park is the Tulip Tree.

Tulip tree

The tulip tree (Liriodendron Tulipifera)
is the closest relative of magnolia. The
name, which the tree got due to its typical
form of leaves, is translated as a “tree-lyre”.
And the tree became known as “tulip”
because of the fragrant greenish yellow
flowers, which bear a marked resemblance
to a tulip.