Gredley Palace stands on the outskirts of Skole in the Ukrainian Carpathians
We often come past it, because this is where our roads to the mountains begin. a friend who first saw the building said, "How beautiful it is! Let's get closer!" - "Why not?" Especially since we wanted to take a break from driving.
I never thought that this magnificent palace contrasts with the surrounding architecture and therefore really attracts attention (if it was in some big old town, it would hardly affect us)! You can see mostly wooden houses of "mountaineers" around, or if we talk about the city center, there are some villas of the early 20th century or examples of the Soviet era.
From afar it seems that this palace is in very good condition. But when we got closer, we realized that the building needs major repairs!
"Who is Gredley?" my friend asked. I know many names of aristocrats of the past who built castles and palaces. But I didn't know anything about these. It must be some Germans or Austrians, I thought. We sat on a bench in the park near the palace and immediately began searching the Internet.
So the three Gredley brothers were Jews from Germany who had a business in mining and processing wood. These were incredibly rich people, they even had their own ships to carry timber around the world. They had large plots of land and real estate in several countries of the Austrian Empire (recall that western Ukraine in the 19th - early 20th centuries belonged to this empire).
It was here, in Skole, that the brothers decided to create their residence, as they had a lot of land around. They launched several narrow-gauge railway lines to transport timber and even tourists. At this time, this place became fashionable, there were sanatoriums and springs of mineral water.
Gredley bought the land and the palace from Baron Kinski and restored the neo-baroque building a bit (sometimes I read that it was Neo-Renaissance, I think it can be called historicism).
Unfortunately, I did not find the name of the architect. And the time of construction is about the middle of the 19th century. At that time, the style of historicism prevailed. Artists turned to different styles of the past: Renaissance, Gothic, Baroque and Classicism. Sometimes these styles can even be combined. Here is such freedom:) The main thing - the desire of the client:)
Wealthy owners, of course, wanted to emphasize their status with lush forms of their homes!
Let's take a closer look. We have a three-storey building. The arch in the middle seems to divide it into two parts. A risalit protrudes from each part, and small turrets with stairs and a terrace on them are attached to it. Once these risalits ended in lush baroque domes, as seen in the old photo. Apparently after the Second World War during the renovation they decided to save and make one dome over the arch instead of two.
The facade is richly decorated: the ground floor is decorated by rustication, above the windows there are sandrikas and brightly decorated cornices. In general, in my opinion, everything is harmonious and "in moderation".
Inside, little is preserved, except for the beautiful stairs and ceilings in some halls.
Gradley emigrated during World War II. When the Soviet authorities came, they opened a boarding school for orphans here. This institution existed here until recently. But now the palace is closed for reconstruction. Hooray!!! Our government plans to open a tourist center here, where you can get information about mountain routes, eat in cafes and spend the night. Good idea!!! Now it remains to believe that it will be implemented relatively quickly!
Thanks for your visit! See you!