Oldenburg Palace

The Oldenburg Palace is a manor house of the late XIX century in the urban - type settlement of Ramon Voronezh region.

In 1878 , the Princess Evgenia Maximilianovna Romanovskaya, Duchess of Leuchtenberg (by her husband — Princess Oldenburg) bought an estate in the village of Ramon Voronezh province. In 1883 , according to the architect 's project Christopher Neisler began the construction of the castle for the spouses. In three years, meter-thick walls were erected, and by 1887 the interior decoration was completed. After the revolution, Eugenia Oldenburg moved to France, and then to Canada, where she died in 1925. And the estate, taking advantage of the absence of the owners, was ruined by the manager Koch. In the future, a barracks, a school, a hospital and a sugar factory building were located there in turn. During the Great Patriotic War, the Germans did not touch the castle, having learned that its owners had German roots. Local residents were hiding in its walls, fleeing from the bombing.Since the late 1970s, the palace has been closed for restoration. All this time, the building is unusable, but despite this, excursions were held in it. In 2014, the museum — historical and cultural center "Oldenburg Palace Complex" was formed on the territory of the complex. In 2021, the complex was opened to tourists as part of the "Imperial Route".

The palace was built in the "Old English" style. Opposite the manor house there is a gate with a tower and a clock of the Swiss company "Winter" mounted in it and an outbuilding called the "suite building", since there was a retinue accompanying the noble persons who visited the estate. 

There are many legends about him.

There is a legend according to which a sorcerer who served the Princess of Oldenburg cursed the imperial Romanov family, as a result of which the royal family was shot in the basement of the Ipatievsky house in Yekaterinburg. And according to another version, he treated Evgenia Oldenburg with the blood of freshly killed babies from hemophilia, and before his death he put a curse on the castle (the sorcerer wished that the house would never find owners and fall apart, it is believed that it was because of this that it could not be restored for more than 30 years):

The mistress of the castle had a witch doctor who cured her of hemophilia, he was in the order of sorcerers, he was kicked out of there because he fell in love with Princess Eugenie of Oldenburg and cured her of the disease. Every month, at the full moon, he came to one of his cherished places in the swamp and prepared medicine with the baby's blood there. Yevgenia's husband was whispered that the miracle doctor was a sorcerer, and he ordered him to be killed. The chase began, the sorcerer thought that he would escape to the marshes, where he was preparing a drink for Princess Eugenie, but he was overtaken and nailed to the ground with an aspen stake. So that's where the sorcerer slaughtered babies, and then he himself found death from an aspen stake.

From the collection "Bylichki and byvalschiny Voronezh region"

It is also believed that the spirit of the princess wanders through the basement, including due to the fact that during her lifetime she loved to torture people there. 

We visited the castle several times (before the restoration and after), but, unfortunately, we could not remove or see anything mysterious. We have heard many stories from local residents about the ghosts living in it.

Now, after the restoration, it is open to the public and still retains an atmosphere of mystery, although it is much less than before, because there are quite a lot of people there these days (excursions, concerts and other events are often held). But for lovers of antiquity, it is in any case an unforgettable experience.