In the village of Ruské Pekľany there is a manor house, which has been owned by the noble Piller family since the second half of the 18th century. The Piller family, originally from Austria, belongs to the modern noble families. In the middle of the 18th century they bought land around Mirkovice and settled in Šariš. For his faithful service in the army, the Empress Maria Theresa gave Joseph Piller a noble title and coat of arms in 1757. In 1764, the monarch granted his son Martin-Joseph, the director of the Solivar chamber office, the title "de Mérk" and gave him estates in Mirkovce, Russké Pekľany, Žehni and Dúbrave. Later they expanded their estates by purchase and by favourable marriage policy and became one of the rich landowners in Šariš. Members of the family also held important positions in the county administration and the judiciary.
The family seat was the manor house in Russké Pekľany, where all family documents were concentrated. The foundation of the manor house dates back to 1799 or 1800, but the exact date of its construction is not preserved in any documents. Originally a rococo mansion from the mid-18th century, it was partially rebuilt in the mid-19th century and re-faced in the bay in the spirit of late classical buildings. The two-storey building has a rectangular plan. The façade is articulated by channeled pilasters with corner rustication. The rooms have vaulted or flat ceilings. Some of the ceilings are decorated with ornaments.
The Piller family created a large economy in Russké Pekľany, which prospered especially in the second half of the 19th century, when the village was managed by Gedeon Piller and his son Koloman. They built a mill, a sawmill and a pond. The family also managed extensive forests. Their farm provided work not only for the inhabitants of Russké Pekľany, but also for people from the neighbouring villages of Radatíce, Janov and Ľubovec.
In 1924, much of the Pillers' property was confiscated and parceled out, leaving only the middle landowners. After 1945 their property was confiscated completely. The Pillers had to leave the manor and were left unattended and unprotected. The damaged, dirty, damp and mouldy fragments were collected by Gejza Piller and later handed over as a deposit to the archives. The archival material taken over included part of the extensive family library; other books from the family residences were probably taken over by the institutions that confiscated the furnishings of the manor houses after the war. In the following years, it housed the state research institutes for forest production of the Regional Forest Administration in Prešov. The manor house deteriorated over time and especially after the war, although there was an effort to reconstruct it by the Prešov authorities, but it never happened again. Part of the property, especially the forests, was returned to the descendants in restitution.
Today the manor house is again owned by Andrej Bán, a descendant of the Piller family. Thanks to the preserved diary entries of the Piller family, the architectural development is known.
In front of the garden facade of the manor house there is a torso of a neo-Baroque fountain from 1880-90, which had allegorical figures of two birds with grapes. In the park near the manor house, rare trees still grow, such as the Canadian or black walnut, which is already listed as an important landmark on maps from 1869. Near the manor house is the family cemetery, where members of the Piller family found their final resting place under the mighty oaks.
Source/Photo: www.mikroregiony.sk
