Eleja Manor Tea house
Eleja Manor Park in Jelgava district is a place for conducting events such as children’s holidays and District days. Construction works in the park had not been carried out for 100 years, since the devastating fire in the main building of the ensemble. So by 2015, only ruins remained from the Tea House and the historic fence of the park. But the staff of the enterprise AS “Būvuzņēmums Restaurators” needed just half a year of hard work to restore these objects.
Eleja manor castle was built in classical style in the early XIX century by the project of architect Johann Georg Adam Berlitz. Master’s house was complemented by the numerous buildings, including the guest house, theater, warehouse and others. The point of no return in the history of Eleja manor happened in 1915, when soldiers burned down 18 buildings of the complex. Since then and up to now several attempts to restore the manor complex of buildings were taken, however they alternated with decisions to demolish its remnants.
Today, part of the Eleja manor park belongs to a private person, and the other part – to the local municipality. The latter decided to restore the Tea House and the historic arc-shaped fence that are settled in its territory. Therefore, this work was entrusted to AS “Būvuzņēmums Restaurators”.
The project is unique not only for Latvia, but also throughout Europe. The fact is that almost nothing left from the Tea House, even the historical evidence of it wasn’t preserved. The only old photograph from a private collection served as the main source of inspiration for the architect. Restorers carefully dismantled the decaying remains of the house, searching for the details of the original decor among them. So it became possible to restore the ornament of decorative painting and details on the ceiling of the terrace, and even recreate a porcelain tea set.
Today Tea House looks like lime green building with gray pillars, which don’t look massive, but on the contrary, almost weightless. The building now adorns the Eleja manor park again. And a massive renovated 143 m long fence from stone and brick signals that you are approaching this place.
www.restaurators.lv/en
The manor complex was designed in the beginning of the 19th century in the style of the Classicism after the order of Duke Christoph Johann Friedrich von Medem. It its days it was a magnificent building with exquisite interior style. The buildings were destroyed during World War I in 1915.
Nowadays, we can see the Tea House, the graveyard of barons and a bridge (built in 1910) leading to it, which have been preserved. The manor park is fenced off from the road by the stone fence with arcades. The Tea House was "reborn" with the fence following reconstruction in 2015.
Historical paths have been restored in the park, a bridge has been built across the ditch to the peninsula and two new interactive objects, which could be interesting for the visitors, have been created: the sculpture “Love” by the sculptor Gļebs Panteļejevs, which is best revealed in all its charm in the late evening hours, and the environmental object “Conversation”, which allows people to talk, while standing each on their own bank of the water reservoir. The Tea house hosts wedding ceremonies, while the tourist groups are offered tea.
www.visit.jelgava.lv/en
http://www.restaurators.lv/en/2015/12/18/tea-house-of-the-eleja-manor-has-been-restored/
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