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EN
Close to the old Riga - Rezekne road on the outskirts of the tiny town of Varaklani in Latvia’s eastern province of Latgale, is the former residence of the Belz Voivode Michal Jan Borch (1753-1811). Photographs and drawings record the state of the garden before the destruction of the war, showing its varied surface with such architectural features as arcaded bridges and the entrance gate decorated with vases. Borch was an individual of many-sided interests, known in cosmopolitan courts and among the academic circles of Europe of the Ancient Regime. He travelled to Italy via Saxony, France, Switzerland and stayed on for a longer period in Sicily and Malta. In 1791 he settled down for good in the Varaklani estate granted to his ancestors. Borch’s major achievement was to create a palace and garden complex. He employed the Italian architect Vincenzo de Mazotti who drained the marsh to prepare the land for the residence, erected the palace and collaborated on landscaping the garden. In 1790 Borch travelled to England and the English residences he became acquainted with must have had some impact on the arrangement of the Varaklani estate. This is indirectly testified to by the very title of the first version of Borch’s literary work on the Varaklani garden, ‘Jardin moral et emblematique’ which the author read to Stanislaus Augustus in the winter of 1791. The surviving and documented elements show that the described landscaped garden was partially implemented. Of all the planned pavilions, only the rotunda was built, not identified actually with either of the described temples, as well as a small pavilion with a square layout (later Jadwiga’s Chapel). Similarities can be detected with the English garden in Stowe (Buckinghamshire) and the Warsaw landscape gardens Lazienki – the Royal Baths and Arkadia near Lowicz. The landscaping in Varaklani was described as a planned route for a young nobleman with didactic and moral guidelines as well as patriotic and historiosophical messages.
EN
Michal Jan Borch (full name Michal Jan Alois Anton Borch, 1753-1810), christened in Varaklani on 1 July 1753, was a natural scientist and writer whose name is recognized in Europe and inscribed in the history of science. To understand Borch’s personality, it is important to consider his wide scope of interests and education-based competence. He was well versed in classical literature, poetry and history, had studied the basics of botany, physics, mathematics, architecture and land surveying as well as drawing, music and several languages. Borch wrote his works in French in which he was fluent and even Voltaire is said to have praised the young Borch’s mastery of French. His correspondence is also mainly in French, including letters to his father and mother. On an everyday level, the Count communicated and wrote in Polish and German; he also learned English and Italian, and wrote verse in French, Italian and Latvian. Borch had a scholarly interest in natural resources and the population of other countries, very typical of Enlightenment-era nobility and intellectuals. This enthusiasm was fully developed during his research travels. In his early twenties, he toured Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy from 1774 to 1778, and then set out for Holland and England in 1790. He was captivated most by two Mediterranean islands Sicily and Malta, describing them with much fervour. Months spent in Sicily (23 September 1776 - 25 April 1777) provided diverse research material for seven books printed in Italy, which describe the nature of Sicily, Malta and Italy - stones, ancient monuments and people combined with historical, natural and anthropological aspects.
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